Confidence Sinks as U.S. Job Market Progress Stalls: Economy

The Rock · #1 May 21, '12, 8:46 pm

Quote:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...last-week.html
Consumer confidence fell last week to the lowest level in almost four months and more people than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits, showing a lack of progress in the job market is rattling Americans.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index dropped in the week ended May 13 to minus 43.6, a level associated with recessions or their aftermaths, from minus 40.4 in the previous period....

Readings lower than minus 40 for the Bloomberg index are correlated with “severe economic discontent,” according to Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates LLC in New York, which compiles the index for Bloomberg. The gauge has averaged minus 15.3 since its inception in December 1985.

All three of the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index’s components declined last week, today’s report showed. The gauge of personal finances fell to minus 12.9, the fourth straight drop and the weakest reading since November, from minus 11.2 in the prior week. A measure of whether consumers consider it a good or bad time to buy decreased to minus 48.2, a three-month low, from minus 45.8. Americans’ views on the state of the economy fell to a 10-week low of minus 69.6 from minus 64.2.

SamH · #2 May 22, '12, 5:59 am

Is this a surprise to anyone?

**Ridgerunner** · #3 May 22, '12, 6:22 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamH

Is this a surprise to anyone?

Certainly not to me. I know far too many business people to have failed to know this a long time ago. And it is going to get worse as Obama and his people progressively strangle the life out of small business with their policies.

7 Sorrows · #4 May 22, '12, 10:09 am

i am working at a job that i am way overqualified for, but just thankful to have a job. i wish we had a booming economy right now and a ton of jobs to choose from, but that is not the case. i feel sorry for those just getting out of high school or college and joining the job market.

Scott_Lafrance · #5 May 22, '12, 10:19 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamH

Is this a surprise to anyone?

I have known that the media and the administration have been misleading the public about the true state of the economy since.....well....I stopped being a partisan and started studying the numbers for myself.

Michael C · #6 May 22, '12, 10:28 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

I have known that the media and the administration have been misleading the public about the true state of the economy since.....well....I stopped being a partisan and started studying the numbers for myself.

Amen to that. We haven't even hit bottom yet. It makes me sick to hear the political elite in Washington talking about creating jobs. What a joke. Watch the MSM and you'll constantly hear about the "recovery".

Scott_Lafrance · #7 May 22, '12, 10:44 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael C

Amen to that. We haven't even hit bottom yet. It makes me sick to hear the political elite in Washington talking about creating jobs. What a joke. Watch the MSM and you'll constantly hear about the "recovery".

Right. They'll never tell you that for every "job" that is created, 3 people quit looking for work altogether.

SamH · #8 May 22, '12, 10:56 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

I have known that the media and the administration have been misleading the public about the true state of the economy since.....well....I stopped being a partisan and started studying the numbers for myself.

All I have to do count our paychecks - we've lost/laid off 30% of our workforce since 2010.

Michael C · #9 May 22, '12, 10:59 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamH

All I have to do count our paychecks - we've lost/laid off 30% of our workforce since 2010.

Us too, and there's no sign of recovery. We are in survival mode. But the good news is Northrop Grumman sold 1.5 billion dollars worth of drones. That's the only business our "Representatives" can recognize.

Scott_Lafrance · #10 May 22, '12, 11:30 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael C

Us too, and there's no sign of recovery. We are in survival mode. But the good news is Northrop Grumman sold 1.5 billion dollars worth of drones. That's the only business our "Representatives" can recognize.

To local police departments no doubt. Gotta keep an eye on us dangerous terrorist American citizens.

Michael C · #11 May 22, '12, 11:33 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

To local police departments no doubt. Gotta keep an eye on us dangerous terrorist American citizens.

Sorry Scott, it's 1.7 Billion and they were sold to NATO. You know them, the organization put together to protect us from the WARSAW pact.

The local police departments are additional income. All is well with the economy.

**Ridgerunner** · #12 May 22, '12, 4:04 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael C

Amen to that. We haven't even hit bottom yet. It makes me sick to hear the political elite in Washington talking about creating jobs. What a joke. Watch the MSM and you'll constantly hear about the "recovery".

There were "recoveries" in the Depression too; improvements in the stock market, in spending, in employment. But it simply wouldn't go away. Part of the reason why it didn't go away was fed action and inaction. Part of it was the fact that Roosevelt tried to raise wages and prices by fiat (it didn't work for Gerald Ford on the downside either) that only made unemployment and business failures worse. Part of it was simply the fact that people ultimately adjust to a new paradigm and stop doing anything forward looking. Why do they not? Because they can't figure anything out and just adapt to the business and employment level the economy is stuck on. The longer it goes on, the more intractable it becomes.

And the Obama people just keep on doing things to discourage employment and investment. We might be beyond the point of recovery unless something truly dramatic happens. Obama's defeat might be sufficient, particularly if the Dems lose control of the Senate. But it might not.

Scott_Lafrance · #13 May 22, '12, 4:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

There were "recoveries" in the Depression too; improvements in the stock market, in spending, in employment. But it simply wouldn't go away. Part of the reason why it didn't go away was fed action and inaction. Part of it was the fact that Roosevelt tried to raise wages and prices by fiat (it didn't work for Gerald Ford on the downside either) that only made unemployment and business failures worse. Part of it was simply the fact that people ultimately adjust to a new paradigm and stop doing anything forward looking. Why do they not? Because they can't figure anything out and just adapt to the business and employment level the economy is stuck on. The longer it goes on, the more intractable it becomes.

And the Obama people just keep on doing things to discourage employment and investment. We might be beyond the point of recovery unless something truly dramatic happens. Obama's defeat might be sufficient, particularly if the Dems lose control of the Senate. But it might not.

Republicans need to take out a chainsaw go across the board on spending and regulations. No sacred cows. No more bailouts. No more corporate welfare.

The Rock · #14 May 22, '12, 9:18 pm

It has been 30 years since the Labor Force Participation Rate was this low (63.6%). And since prior to that women did not participate in the workforce nearly as much as today; a case could be made that real unemployment (as measured by the Labor Force Participation Rate which includes discouraged workers) is at it's highest since 1948, when this statistic started being measured.

vsedriver · #15 May 22, '12, 9:27 pm

I just lost my job of 4 years. There is nothing out there beyond retail and food service. Sadly I'll make more on unemployment than actually working at this rate. Everyone should prepare for our standard of living to drop drastically.

My advice to anyone in school is to go into the medical, engineering, or machining trades. At my age it is too late to learn a new trade, nor do I have the money to do so.