|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 4, 2009 9:27:25 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending rose slightly more than expected in June, a government report showed on Tuesday, likely pushed up by higher gasoline prices, and incomes saw their biggest drop in four-and-a-half years.
The Commerce Department said spending rose 0.4 percent, boosted by expenditures on nondurable goods, after a revised 0.1 percent increase in May, which was previously reported as a 0.3 percent rise.
That compared to market expectations for a 0.3 percent increase in spending, which accounts for over two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. However, adjusted for inflation, spending fell 0.1 percent after being flat in May.
"I think the data shows that consumer confidence appears to be bottoming and turning higher, though headwinds from job losses remain a significant hurdle," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Ridgeworth Investments in Richmond, Virginia.
Personal incomes declined 1.3 percent in June, however, as the effects of one-time government stimulus checks in May wore off, and U.S. stock index futures extended losses after the report while government bond prices rose.
The drop in personal income was the biggest decrease since January 2005 and was larger than market expectations for a 1.0 percent drop.
"It's obviously a modestly sharper decline than had been expected, but it's very much affected by the unwinding of the transfer payments from the Obama administration stimulus plan," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York.
"The good news is that personal spending rose," he said.
Gee..we spent more money on higher gas?..
That's good news?
We spent more money on cars..with the cash for clunkers?
Great except you still need to pay the remaining debt on that car off.
Notice how the revised number is almost always LESS that what was previously reported?
Same for anything good being reported ..it is just a optimistic guess.
THEY KNOW NOTHING..
I hope you stocked up wit I bonds 10 years ago..and my fav..
ECL when it
was under 30 ..
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 5, 2009 12:59:33 GMT -5
8/3:This will get very bad- Over the coming months, as many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits/ Tens of thousands of workers have already used up their benefits, and the numbers are expected to soar in the months to come, reaching half a million by the end of September and 1.5 million by the end of the year.
So why not call all these people clunkers. Congress pays out billions and we recycle hundreds of thousands.
8/2: Another $2 billion for clunkers. What if I do not have enough money to buy a new car even when trading in a clunker. Now it looks like another $2 billion will be offered. But that is a tax on everyone else.
Not fair.
8/2: Consumer spening is down 1/2%
Busienss spending is down 8.0%
Exports are down 7 %
Gvernment spending is up 10.9%
From EF moody .com One of my best sites I use.
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 6, 2009 8:32:29 GMT -5
rasmussenreports.com Rasmussenreports.com – 1 hr 11 mins ago
Seventy-one percent (71%) of U.S. voters say President Obama's policies have increased the size of the federal deficit, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Only five percent (5%) say the president's policies have cut the deficit, and 10% say they have had no impact. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure.
Eighty percent (80%) of investors say Obama's policies have driven up the deficit, a view shared by just 57% of non-investors.
Not surprisingly, 88% of Republicans blame the president's policies, compared to 52% of Democrats. But 79% of voters not affiliated with either party agree.
The chickens have come back to roost.
Cluck..cluck..
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 6, 2009 19:06:22 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps in May, the government said on Thursday, another symptom of the longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression.
Enrollment surged by 2 percent to reach a record 34.4 million people, or one in nine Americans, in the latest month for which figures are available.
It was the sixth month in a row that enrollment set a record. Every state recorded a gain, and Florida had the largest increase at 4.2 percent.
Enrollment for food stamps, which help people buy groceries, is highest during times of economic stress. The U.S. unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is the highest in 26 years.
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 7, 2009 8:20:46 GMT -5
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa, Ap Economics Writer – 16 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Employers throttled back on layoffs in July, cutting just 247,000 jobs, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent, its first decline in 15 months.
It was a better-than-expected showing that offered a strong signal that the recession is finally ending.
The new snapshot, released by the Labor Department on Friday, also offered other encouraging news: workers' hours nudged up after sinking to a record low in June, and paychecks grew after having fallen or flat lined in some cases.
To be sure, the report still indicates that the jobs market is on shaky ground. But the new figures were better than many analysts were expecting and offered welcomed improvements to a part of the economy that has been clobbered by the recession.
Analysts were forecasting job losses to slow to around 320,000 and the unemployment rate to tick up to 9.6 percent.
The dip in the unemployment rate — from June's 9.5 percent — was the first since April 2008. One of the reasons the rate went down, however, was because hundreds of thousands of people left the labor force. Fewer people, though, did report being unemployed.
All told, there were 14.5 million out of work in July.
If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included the unemployment rate would have been 16.3 percent in July. That's down from 16.5 percent in June, which was the the highest on records dating to 1994.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 6.7 million jobs.
In our small town...A Tank welding business that employs about 60 ..has just laid off people for the first time in 20 years.
4 of my personal friends are on their last extensions.
The link I showed ..shows how those losing benefits will make the numbers look great ..improving ..when the underlaying economy sinks even more under lack of consumer spending.
|
|
|
|
Post by po'okela on Aug 7, 2009 15:20:42 GMT -5
not to sound like a d*ck but who do you think is capable of taking the the country out of this recession in less than a 12-month period after coming in to office?
it sucks that bush came in to office right before 09/11 & obama came in to office during the middle of this financial crisis. believe me, if there was an easy fix to this it would have been dealt with a long time ago - but there isn't. therefore, we just have to deal with it.
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 7, 2009 15:25:32 GMT -5
The government got US INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE..
I DIDN'T SAY REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT.
GOVERNMENT..is the cause ..not the solution.
WE THE PEOPLE .. can fix it.
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 7, 2009 15:31:04 GMT -5
As of July 25, 6.31 million people were collecting long-term unemployment benefits, according to Labor Department data.
Some 1.5 million of those people could exhaust those benefits by the end of the end of the year, according to the National Employment Law Project.
"We must help those who are suffering as a result of an economic crisis they did not create," Reid said.
Congress has already extended unemployment benefits for up to 79 weeks and Obama administration officials and Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives have said they will work to extend them further.
But that could widen the already yawning budget deficit, which shot up another $300 billion in July to reach a record $1.3 trillion for the first 10 months of fiscal 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO expects the budget deficit to top $1.8 trillion for the fiscal year which ends September 30, in large measure due to a $787 economic stimulus bill passed by Congress in February.
|
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Aug 7, 2009 16:11:27 GMT -5
Having just returned from vacation after visiting two relatively large urban areas, Minneapolis and Seattle, I get a sense that the economy is turning around a bit. People are still watching their money and looking for bargains, but after months of retrenchment, they are out on the streets looking around and shopping. Of course after nearly two years, one would expect some type of turnaround due to pent up demand and very low business inventories.
Going forward, our biggest problem is the Government bubble mainly on the federal side. The states are starting to deal with their problems by slashing budgets but also (unfortunately) by using federal money. Going back 10 years, first we had the internet bubble, followed by the housing bubble, and now we are in the center of the government bubble. If we can brake the government spending and reduce the number of government employees and their benefits then we'll be well on our way to recovery.
|
|
|
|
Post by po'okela on Aug 7, 2009 19:01:04 GMT -5
Courtesy of the Honolulu AdvertiserNational unemployment rate drops for first time in 15 monthsWASHINGTON — Employers sharply scaled back layoffs in July, and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time in 15 months, sending a strong signal that the worst recession since World War II is finally ending. A net total of 247,000 jobs were lost last month, the fewest in a year. That compares with 443,000 jobs that disappeared in June. And the unemployment rate for July declined to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent in June. The snapshot the Labor Department released today offered other encouraging news, too: Workers' hours nudged up after sinking to a record low in June, and paychecks grew after having stagnated or fallen. .... for more on this article, visit: www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090807/BREAKING/90807016/National+unemployment+rate+drops+for+first+time+in+15+months
|
|
|
|
Post by lonewolf on Aug 7, 2009 20:13:01 GMT -5
Courtesy of the Honolulu AdvertiserNational unemployment rate drops for first time in 15 monthsWASHINGTON — Employers sharply scaled back layoffs in July, and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time in 15 months, sending a strong signal that the worst recession since World War II is finally ending. A net total of 247,000 jobs were lost last month, the fewest in a year. That compares with 443,000 jobs that disappeared in June. And the unemployment rate for July declined to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent in June. The snapshot the Labor Department released today offered other encouraging news, too: Workers' hours nudged up after sinking to a record low in June, and paychecks grew after having stagnated or fallen. .... for more on this article, visit: www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090807/BREAKING/90807016/National+unemployment+rate+drops+for+first+time+in+15+months Lies....pure liberal spin...this is obviously placed in the paper by the same people who snuck in Obama's birth. |
|
|
|
Post by po'okela on Aug 7, 2009 20:53:31 GMT -5
two words - consumer confidence.
people are afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow that they're not spending money, hence businesses shut down and people begin to lose jobs. it's a ripple effect - from the consumer, to the business, down to the vendors, distributors & manufacturers blah blah blah...
if there's an inkling that we've been thru the worst and are now coming out of it, consumers may be more prone to spending more money which would help the entire economy overall.
be optimistic... why freak everyone out and cause them to hide in these little shells they call HOME?
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 8, 2009 15:45:36 GMT -5
I posted about the economic improvement ..read through the thread..I didn't hide it.
HAMMER TIME...
Hit it straight on this post..
" Going forward, our biggest problem is the Government bubble mainly on the federal side. The states are starting to deal with their problems by slashing budgets but also (unfortunately) by using federal money. Going back 10 years, first we had the internet bubble, followed by the housing bubble, and now we are in the center of the government bubble. If we can brake the government spending and reduce the number of government employees and their benefits then we'll be well on our way to recovery."
Government is creating jobs by borrowing MONEY..FROM TAXPAYERS and future generations.
Loans and DEBT ..NEED TO BE REPAID..
Who will have the heart/balls to DENY FREE STUFF ?
FREE REBATES.Cash for clunkers..FREE HEALTH CARE ..that isn't free.
Free Money to bail out BAD UNION CONTRACTS ?
FREE MONEY TO BAIL OUT BANKRUPT STATES ?
FREE MONEY TO BAIL OUT THE POST OFFICE ?
They hand out BILLIONS like it was candy at a parade.
OUR MONEY..
NOT THEIRS.
THEY HAVE NONE. They gave it all away.
|
|
|
|
Post by goGopherBill on Aug 8, 2009 15:54:59 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Regulators on Friday shut three banks in Florida and Oregon, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures to 72 for the year.
Florida regulators closed Community National Bank of Sarasota County in Venice, Fla., and First State Bank of Sarasota, Fla. Stearns Bank, N.A., of St. Cloud, Minn., will assume the deposits of both failed banks.
The failures bring the state's 2009 total to six.
Home Federal Bank of Nampa, Idaho, will buy all deposits of the failed Community First Bank of Prineville, Ore.
Bank failures have surged this year as a lingering recession and rising unemployment leaves the industry nursing heavy loan losses.
More than 1,000 banks may fail during the next three to five years, analysts at RBC Capital Markets estimated in February. See story on future bank failures.
Florida lenders have been particularly prone to failure this year, reflecting the surplus of unsold condos and other real estate in the Sunshine State.
HERE IS REALITY..The BANKING CRISES IS NOT OVER ..like the
SUPREME LEADER OBAMA CLAIMS.
The bottom is not yet felt.
|
|
