There's a lot of good economic news in this article. It looks like confidence continues to rise that the economy is OK now, if not great, and is likely to continue slowly improving into the future. Good news for America and good news for President Obama, unless people are still dumb enough to believe all the lies and propaganda on the right. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Less worried about layoffs, jobholders spend more By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON Ninety percent of the work force has a job, the same as a year ago. But last year, people were still worried about getting laid off. Today, they aren't. The result is a renewed confidence that's boosted retail sales - just what's needed to spark what economists call a "virtuous cycle": Higher consumer spending raises company profits, which spurs hiring, which fuels more spending and growth. Consumer spending is critical because it powers about 70 percent of the economy. It's risen without interruption since July, and it powered the strongest holiday shopping season since 2006. Many shoppers are showing enough confidence to splurge on new cars: Auto sales rebounded 11 percent in 2010, the first increase since 2005. "The strongest showing for consumers since the peak years of the last expansion signals that the broader economy is near a threshold of self-sustaining growth," analysts at Citi Investment Research & Analysis wrote last week. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke echoed that point Friday. He told a Senate panel he sees evidence that a "self-sustaining" recovery is taking hold because consumers and businesses are spending more. Morgan Stanley economists say 4 percent growth is "likely, perhaps even conservative" in 2011, up from an estimated 3.1 percent last year. Late this month, the government will estimate economic growth for the final quarter of 2010. Consumer spending is rising because the vast majority of working-age Americans are now breathing easier, despite 9.4 percent unemployment. People who had jobs feared being laid off during the recession, which ended in June 2009, and for months after. Fewer worry now, because most companies have stopped cutting staff. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013896156_apusjobholdersspending.html
Now dat we got Osama, how `bout goin' back to fixin' the economy?... Layoffs Continue to Mount 05/02/11 -- The job market has been a giant seesaw -- just when things are looking up, another data point disappoints and slides back down.
Job market seems to be turnin' around... More Americans Quitting Than Being Laid Off, Stats Show 4/13/12 - Take this job and shove it?
Gov't. gonna pick up the tab so's part-time workers can collect full time pay... Labor Dept. Attempts to Stop Layoffs by Giving $100 Million to States to Subsidize Payrolls August 15, 2012 The Labor Department announced on Monday that it will be awarding almost $100 million in grant funding to states to prevent layoffs by allowing businesses to pay employees as part-time workers and the federal government will pick up the tab for the cost of a full-time paycheck.
The economy is good now, if not great? since when? have you told those who can't find jobs or who have been out of work for 2 years?
Another liberal columnist putting lipstick on a pig. If Americans are so "confident", why are trillions of dollars on the sideline in CD's, treasurys, and other risk-averse pigeonholes instead of in the stock market? And even the relatively few who invest in low volumes are only convinced of getting dividends, and no real, reliable gains in the stock values themselves. What Americans have done is to start racking up big credit card debt again, in the same mindless, irresponsible way that they did before the Recession, but that doesn't mean that we feel "wealthy": http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/12/credit-card-debt-soars-as-americans-borrow-like-its-2006/ . Truthfully, I don't know even ONE small business owner who is optimistic about the future if Comrade Obama is re-elected, and none of them plans to hire any additional headcount until they know we are rid of him, once and for all, and his insidious Obamacare, too....
