Strong Growth for US Economy

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2004
Strong Growth for US Economy
31
Mon, 04-19-2004 - 12:20pm
Leading index points to strong growth

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The U.S. index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3 percent in March, the Conference Board reported Monday.



Last month's growth rate was as expected, matching the increase that economists had anticipated, according to a survey conducted by CBS MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar.

The leading economic indicators index was flat in February.

"Economic growth in the first quarter was strong and the second quarter may be as good or better," said Ken Goldstein, economist for the Conference Board. Read the full release.

In March, six of the 10 leading indicators improved: vendor performance, money supply, jobless claims, building permits, orders for consumer goods and consumer expectations. The other four -- interest-rate spreads, stock prices, manufacturing hours and core capital goods orders -- declined.

Over the past six months, seven of the 10 indicators have improved. "The current growth rate of the leading index is signaling a continuation of relatively strong economic growth in the near term," the Conference Board said.

In March, the coincident index rose 0.2 percent, led by the rise in payrolls. The lagging index fell 0.1 percent.

The leading index report "is useful because it collapses everything in about the economy into one simple number," said Robert Brusca, chief economist for Fact and Opinion Economics. "It is useless for the same reason."

Most of the data in the LEI report have been released previously; some of the data were on an estimated basis until final government data are released.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of CBS.MarketWatch.com.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts&guid=%7B2C19C6C1-64D0-46F2-AC61-B5D6D2F15422%7D


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 04-22-2004 - 9:05pm
Who knows, but I saw an interesting news item last week.

It said that the average american carries about $2,300 in credit card debt.

It then said that the average debt carried by people making over $125,000 was closer to $8,700.

I dont know what it has to do with your post, but found it interesting.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-23-2004
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 12:02am


Uh, people aren't jobless for the most part. Economists generally consider full employment to be at around 5% unemployment. This is due to the fact that there are always going to be people who are in between jobs for one reason or another. The unemployment rate is around 5.7% right now-it can't really get all that much lower.

Interestingly, here in Pennsylvania John Kerry recently promised to create 400,000 new jobs, which is funny because there are only 380,000 unemployed people here. He also has promised to create 10,000,000 new jobs for the US as a whole, where last I heard there were currently about 9.3 million people unemployed.


Edited 4/23/2004 12:05 am ET ET by liveanew

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2004
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 1:53am
Yes, he promises a goverment job for everyone, paid for by you and me.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-05-2003
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 8:45am

Actually the actual unemployment rate is higher than 5.7%, that is the amount still on their 6 months of unemployment insurance, and the UNDERemployment rate is much higher.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 11:39am

Credit card debt: See my post # 19 in this thread.


It's a poll, sampling just over 1K people.

cl-Libraone~

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 11:42am

>"The unemployment rate is around 5.7% right now-it can't really get all that much lower."<


This # shows the people that are receiving unemployment benefits. Many are simply off the radar.

cl-Libraone~

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 1:09pm
<>

And living on the edge means that you can fall over; the sun is shinning so why worry.

Sigh, when is optomism a fateful delusion?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 1:38pm
<>

I am concerned because economic theory says that with strong growth comes higher employment. The fact that this growth has not produced a corresponding employment growth means to me that economic theory is not holding. I am sure you know how your figures figure in--the people who make $125,000 per year are paying 7 percent of their wages to support previous buys (fixed expenses). Thus if they run into a financial road bump they only have 93% of their income available to pay for current purchases.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 1:43pm
<>

The unemployment rate is just another part of the economic; IMO this theory no longer applies to our current situation--that's why I'm concerned.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Fri, 04-23-2004 - 1:48pm
<< create 10,000,000 new jobs for the US as a whole, where last I heard there were currently about 9.3 million people unemployed>>

Since our working population is growing because of new entrants coming of age, and because of our immigration. People who have struggled to send their children to college are not going to be happy when these children can't find jobs. The college educated are filling the ranks of the unemployed. Where's the American Dream?