• The economy continues to experience stable personal income growth, increasing 0.4% in April. On a quarterly basis, personal income rose 4.1% in the first quarter, staying within the higher-than-4% trend that started in the first quarter last year. In the first quarter, personal income rose to $15,129 billion, higher than the 2014 fourth quarter of $14,979 billion. Real disposable income—that is personal income less personal taxes adjusted for price changes—rose 5.3% in the fourth quarter, to $13,285 billion. Rising personal income fueled increasing PCE. PCE increased 1.8% in the first quarter with services and durable goods consumption rising at 2.5% and 1.1%, respectively. • Despite uneven monthly jobs data, the economy’s labor utilization continued to rise. In January and February, 201,000 and 266,000 jobs were added, respectively. March jobs numbers, however, were disappointing adding only 119,000 jobs causing the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.5% in February and March. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate continued to fall in the first quarter and the trend continued in April and May. Total number of jobs added in the first quarter was 552,000. April job numbers confirmed that March was a one-off dip, adding 221,000 jobs, which brought the unemployment rate down to 5.4%. Although 280,000 jobs were added in May, unemployment rate was recorded 5.5%, due to an increase in the civilian labor force by 0.25% compared to a 0.1% increase in April. • The economy
The unemployment rate has dramatically increased over the last several months. This increase has created many complications for the American people. Although the United States economy has created over 7 million jobs, there is still a long way to go until the economy is back on track.
Beginning with unemployment in the 2007-2009 recession, U.S. unemployment rates peaked at 10% as well as held 41 consecutive months at rates higher than eight percent (Lazear 1). The U.S. economy plummeted during this time; many attributed the shift to a large decrease in the number of employed workers. To be able to better understand the unemployment issue, we must first examine the form of unemployment faced by the U.S. economy. Many believe that the changes faced by the U.S. labor market
As of March, 2013 the U.S. National Unemployment rate was 7.6%. A total of 11.7 million people were reported as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This rate is improved from the height of the recent recession, where the statistic floated around 9%, but it is still not the usual 3-4% figure we are used to seeing in regular market conditions. (bls.gov, US, 2013)
The increase largely showed a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, private inventory investment, state and local government spending, and exports. Current-dollar GDP increased 3.4 percent, or $589.8 billion, in 2015 to a level of $17,937.8 billion, compared with an increase of 4.1 percent, or $684.9 billion, in 2014. Real disposable personal income rose 3.4 percent over the past four quarters, a rapid pace. At the same time, real consumer spending rose only 2.6 percent. This difference indicates that consumers have tended to save a rising fraction of their income gains over the past year.
Educating oneself about the economy is a rigorous task seeing as it has several different aspects to it. Unemployment and the related topics in the chapter sparked an interest within me. Fortunately, I was able to find an article that covered this topic in a state I’ve come to love- California. The article, “California adds 54,200 jobs in May; unemployment rate ticks up to 6.4%”, provides visual representation of the data stated and provides quotes and opinions from people among the Californian population. This produces additional support for the article. The fact that the situation is occurring in California, along with visual representations, gave reason for my decision in choosing this article.
The unemployment rate averaged 8.5% in 1975, almost 10% in 1982, and has been above 8.8% for more than two years, with little evidence of any improvement ahead.”
The recent job growth is impressive with an increase in 3.4% though the unemployment rate is still at 10% (U.S. average is 5.2%). With this recent increase, there is
As president of the United States, the public often believes that the nation’s leader can control the economy. However, while the president may have some influence over the economy, having control over the economy is far from truth. In fact, more often than not a president’s influence over the economy is more subtle and difficult to measure until years after the president has left office. The president is given the responsibility of appointing members of the Federal Reserve Board who are subsequently approved by the Senate. The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for much of the monetary policy which governs the central banking system if the United States controlling interest rates, the money supply, and overseeing the Nation’s banking system
While there are expectations of a yearly gain of nearly 2.3 million net new jobs, the unemployment rate is still very high i.e. around 6.5 percent. The lower-than-expected job growth is fueled by various factors including government hiring, weather, and Obamacare. Actually, similar to December, January had a lower-than expected increase in job opportunities since only 113,000 jobs were created. However, the rate of unemployment still reduced to 6.6 percent in this month despite of the growth in labor force. The current rate of unemployment is the lowest in U.S. since the 2008 recession because more people are leaving the labor force instead of finding jobs.
The unemployment rate is currently 4.5%, which is the lowest in almost 10 years. Many new jobs are being added every month, with 219,000 jobs added in February, and 98,000 added in March. The unemployment rate indicates that the labor market is returning to a sustainable pace of progress (Jamrisko, 2017). Employment is currently healthy in the U.S. This is also good news for Cindy. This indicates that there are more people working, earning, and having disposable income to invest in solar panels.
The 7 percent unemployment rate last month — down from its most recent peak of 10 percent in October 2009 — is the best reading since President Obama took office, providing one bright spot for a White House beleaguered on many other fronts. The unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in December 2008, the month before Mr. Obama was inaugurated.
In the beginning of 2012 the employment growth averaged 151,000 per month. This averaged about the same monthly growth in 201l, which was at 153,000. “Both the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) were essentially unchanged in July.” The employment rate in 2012 for ages 16 and over was 8.3 and the rate for 25 and over was 6.9. In 2011 the rate for 16 and over was 9.1 and 25 and over was 7.8. (BLS, 2012)
The Bureau of Labor Statistic’s July employment report shows the unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3%. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose 215,000 in July. Previous job estimates in May and June, respectively, were revised to 260,000 and 231,000. The economy added 14,000 more jobs in both months than previously estimated.
The United States is currently experiencing a slow recovery from the recession of 2008-09. The current unemployment rate is 7.7%, which is the lowest level since December of 2008 (BLS, 2012). However, this rate is believed to higher than the rate that would occur if the economy was operating at peak efficiency, and it is also believed that there are structural issues still underpinning this performance. For example, the number of Americans who have exited the work force as the result of prolonged unemployment is believed to be higher than usual. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2012) notes that long-term unemployment of greater than 26 weeks is at a much higher rate than normal, which will have adverse long-run effects on the economy, since workers with long-term unemployment often find their career paths derailed.
The unemployment rate in the United States has improved dramatically over the last two years, from a high of 8.3% in July 2012, to a low of 6.6% in January 2014. In October of 2012, the civilian labor force increased from 578,000 to 155.6 million, labor force participation increased up to 63.8%, and total employment overall rose by 410,000! Since then, the unemployment rate has been falling at a stable rate due to a political push from Washington DC and new employment initiatives. The inflation rate over the last 2 years has been relatively stably, with a few major increases and decreases in 2012 and 2013. It reached a high of 2.3% in June of 2012, and reached a low of 1.0% at the end of 2013. The federal interest rate has remained at a constant .25% over the past few years.