Misery Index: The Obama Depression - "Private sector doing just Fine"

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In a waning presidential first term nothing compares to the importance of securing another one. In Barack Obama’s case, there is an added spur to his drive for re-election. The president believes the American economy will spring back to life over the next four years and cannot abide the thought of Mitt Romney reaping the credit.
Mr Obama’s impulse is more than understandable. However unearned, an economic revival that coincided with a Romney first term would easily be marketed as a “Romney boom”. But even if – as many expect – Mr Obama wins on 6 November, he should be wary of the growing belief in America’s impending manufacturing renaissance.
More

ON THIS STORY
Furniture maker helps cushion offshore drift
Surcharge for US mortgages proposed
US jobless claims edge down to 382,000
US existing home sales at two-year high
Global Insight Fed drama set for epilogue
ON THIS TOPIC
Obama rejects Romney foreign policy barbs
Romney tries to end taxing attacks
Romney struggles to regain momentum
Romney releases tax return details
EDWARD LUCE
The GOP shows no sign of braking before the cliff
America’s season of hollow boastfulness
Back to the Future for Obama in Charlotte
Ed Luce Romney the pragmatist
Too much of it is based on hope. America’s pallid – and again waning – economic recovery is already into its fourth year. The typical length of the business cycle is about seven years. It requires optimism at this stage to believe the patient is about to arise and go for a jog.
Here is the case for America’s coming manufacturing boom. First, the US is in the early stages of an energy windfall that will transform its attractiveness as a location to do business. In addition to the unfolding energy supply shock, which will lower the cost of electricity and the feed-in stock for many kinds of production, the cost of American labour looks increasingly attractive next to wage inflation in China and other emerging market economies.
According to the Boston Consulting Group the US could create between 2m and 5m new direct and indirect manufacturing jobs between now and 2020. That would make up for about one-third of what it has lost in the past decade.
On top of that, the US housing market has finally bottomed out and is likely once again to become a net plus to US growth. Finally, as Roger Altman recently argued in the FT, Washington could surprise us all by skirting the cliff and striking a fiscal deal that would rekindle America’s animal spirits.
Much of this is indisputable; the US is well on the way to a new era of energy abundance. Estimates of its impact range from mildly positive to something far bigger. Much of it is also probable: it would take a huge shock to push the US housing market back into free fall.
Some of it is less so: it would be a surprise if Congress struck an intelligent fiscal bargain in the coming months. Should the Republican “fever break” – as some Democrats describe the anticipated Republican change of heart – it would certainly qualify as a positive shock to the economy. Both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, the two biggest credit rating agencies, cite political risk as America’s chief vulnerability.
Yet it is hard to get excited about a revival based on so many ifs and buts. Even if the rosiest forecasts prove correct, they are based on sobering assumptions. First, the boom would be based on the continued decline in US unit labour costs. By 2016, according to Boston Consulting Group, the gap with China would have narrowed to just seven cents an hour. These would be neither the high-tech jobs of the future nor the golden middle class jobs of the past.
Rising US labour productivity growth will play its part. So too will declining US wages. Hourly pay for new “two-tier” hires in US auto assembly plants and elsewhere is roughly half that of the original tier (and with a fraction of the benefits). None of this would alter the calculus for the higher-tech manufacturers, such as semiconductors and robotics. At a typical Intel plant, whether in China or America, labour costs amount to just a tenth of total overheads. Tax rates, market access and the cost of land are far more important factors.
Second, the hollowing out of America’s middle class – still politely described as median income stagnation rather than “decline” – is accelerating rather than slowing. According to the US Census last week, the US median household is 4.8 per cent poorer now than at the start of the recovery in 2009. Median incomes have now fallen to the pre-internet level of 1993. All of the gains of the Clinton years have been lost. The decline in the past three years follows a 3.2 per cent drop during the recession, which itself followed a shrinkage during the 2000-2007 cycle. Far from a new dawn of broad-based growth, America’s middle class decline is getting worse.
Recent days will chiefly be remembered for Mr Romney’s decision to stand by his disparaging comments about the 47 per cent of Americans who pay no federal income tax. They will also be remembered for the release of his full 2011 tax return, which showed that the former Bain Capital executive pays a lower overall rate than the poorest fifth of Americans. In an era of increasing economic insecurity, Mr Romney has made a hash of his campaign.

Were he a better politician, Mr Romney would have seized on a report earlier this month that showed a sharp fall in US competitiveness. In 2007, the US was ranked first by the World Economic Forum, which published the report. By 2011 it had fallen to fifth. This year it dropped to seventh. The chief culprits are bad governance, macroeconomic instability and declining infrastructure. Here, too, the American trend points the wrong way.

Should he still pull off a victory, Mr Romney’s tax plans would skew the fiscal system even further towards the wealthiest. If, as Mr Romney says, Mr Obama is a “redistributionist”, then he is clearly not a very effective one.

Whoever wins the 2012 election, America can certainly rely on a coming energy boom – in fact it is already well under way. Most of the rest looks like either hype or hope.

[whork]

"Should he still pull off a victory, Mr Romney’s tax plans would skew the fiscal system even further towards the wealthiest. If, as Mr Romney says, Mr Obama is a “redistributionist”, then he is clearly not a very effective one."

This is funny, you dont even read what you copy-paste.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/august-chicago-fed-national-activity-index-2012


Nice - Manufacturing retreating again.   

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http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2012/sep/20/5/woman-signals-obama-for-help-with-sign-on-roof-ar-507737


Real recovery right there. 

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http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-an-even-scarier-jobs-chart-2012-9


FORWARD! 

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Household Incomes Fall In Aug., Off 8.2% Under Obama
By JOHN MERLINE

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

 Posted 09/25/2012 03:55 PM ET
 


In another sign that the economic recovery under President Obama is not producing gains for average Americans, median household incomes fell 1.1% in August to $50,678, according to a report released Tuesday by Sentier Research.
 
Since the economic recovery started in June 2009, household incomes are down 5.7%, the Sentier data show, and they are down more than 8% since Obama took office.
 
"Even though we are technically in an economic recovery, real median annual household income is having a difficult time maintaining its present level, much less recovering," said Sentier co-founder and former Census Bureau official Gordon Green.
 
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau released its annual report showing that the number of people in poverty was nearly 3 million higher in 2011 than in 2009, an increase of 6%.
 
That report also found that average incomes for middle- and lower-income households fell in 2011 after adjusting for inflation. They rose only for the wealthiest 20% of households.
 
Middle-Class Squeeze
 
The average inflation-adjusted income for households in the middle 20% is now lower than it's been since 1995, the census report found.
 
Meanwhile, another report released Tuesday finds that per-capita health costs jumped 4.6% last year, marking a turnaround from previous years, which had seen annual cost increases moderating. The Health Care Cost Institute report found that rising prices are a "major driver" of the cost increases.
 
And a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this month found that the number of uninsured climbed 1 million in the first three months of 2012 compared with last year.
 
Food-Stamp Nation
 
Other bad signs: The number of people on food stamps is up more than 220,000 in the first half of this year and up almost 12 million — or 34% — from June 2009 to June 2012.
 
The number of people in the labor force has fallen more than half a million in the past two months, with the participation rate down to 63.5%, a rate not seen in the past 30 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
 
Almost 83,000 signed up for federal disability benefits in September, and more than 736,000 have joined in the first nine months of this year, according to the Social Security Administration. That's a higher enrollment rate than the first nine months of the Obama presidency.
 
Analysts say the higher disability enrollment rates are in part a reflection of workers' inability to find jobs.
 
On the other hand, the Consumer Confidence Index climbed in September to 70.3, a nine-point increase from August, according to the Conference Board.
 
Related Story
 

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http://www.cnbc.com/id/49180320


Federal Reserve mentizing the entire deficit.

SICK!

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CEOs now see gloomy third quarter, drop growth expectations
By Tim Devaney
 
The Washington Times
 
Wednesday, September 26, 2012


 
Citing uncertainty over the impending “fiscal cliff” and lower demand overseas, an association of CEOs from top companies on Wednesday dropped its growth expectations for the third quarter to the lowest level since the middle of the Great Recession.
 
The Business Roundtable lowered projections for sales, capital spending and hiring in its latest CEO Economic Outlook Survey to the lowest level since 2009.
 
The fiscal cliff — an end-of-the-year deadline for a long-term budget deal between Republican and Democratic lawmakers — has businesses putting off hiring and spending decisions, because they don’t know what to expect in the coming months and years, said Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing who also heads the Business Roundtable.
 
“This complete Mexican standoff that we have now is not getting us anywhere,” he told reporters.
 
Business Roundtable President John Engler called it a “fiscal Everest.”
 
“This is something that urgently needs to be addressed,” Mr. Engler said. “This is the same problem the NFL is having. The players aren’t quite clear how to play the game, because the refereeing is so bad.”
 
Mr. Engler urged lawmakers to take action now to avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to kick if if no deal is made.
 
“We can lead, but you can’t lead by not making decisions,” he said.
 
Only 58 percent of the CEOs who responded expect sales to increase, down from 75 percent last quarter, while the number of CEOs who expect a decline in sales nearly tripled to 15 percent, due in large part to weaker demand in Europe and China.
 
Companies are also slowing capital spending and hiring because of uncertainties in the U.S. tax and regulatory environments. Only 30 percent expect to increase spending, down from 43 percent last quarter, while 19 percent plan to cut back on spending, up from 12 percent.
 
Meanwhile, only 29 percent expect to boost hiring, down from 36 percent, while 34 percent expect to make layoffs or other declines in employment, up from 20 percent.


Read more: CEOs now see gloomy third quarter, drop growth expectations - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/26/ceos-now-see-gloomy-third-quarter-drop-growth-expe/#ixzz27bTZiseQ
 Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTwy7LqZBc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTwy7LqZBc</a>

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ECONOMY_GDP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-27-08-36-59


GDP DISASTER! 

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Durable Goods Orders Sink Even as Jobless Claims Fall
Published: Thursday, 27 Sep 2012 | 8:40 AM ET Text Size By: Reuters   Twitter 
 
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New durable goods orders in August fell by the most since the recession and a separate reading on the broader U.S. economy came in much weaker than expected. But weekly jobless claims sank to a two-month low, in a hopeful sign for the labor market.

 
Ros Roberts | Getty Images
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods in August fell by the most in 3 1/2 years, pointing to a sharp slowdown in factory activity even as a gauge of planned business spending rebounded.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday durable goods orders dived 13.2 percent, the largest drop since January 2009, when the economy was in the throes of a recession. Orders for July were revised down to show a 3.3 percent increase instead of the previously reported 4.1 percent gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected orders for durable goods — items from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last at least three years — to fall 5 percent.

Last month, the drop in orders reflected weak aircraft and automobiles demand. Boeing [BA  70.25    0.87  (+1.25%)   ] received only one aircraft order in August, down from 260 in July, according to information posted on the plane maker's website.

Transportation equipment tumbled 34.9 percent after racing ahead 13.1 percent in July. Excluding transportation, orders fell 1.6 percent after dropping 1.3 percent the prior month. Economists had expected this category to rise 0.3 percent after a previously reported 0.6 percent fall.


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Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 1.1 percent, halting two straight months of hefty declines. That was above economists' expectations for 0.5 percent gain.

But shipments of these goods, which are used to calculate equipment and software spending in the gross domestic product report, fell 0.9 percent after declining 1.1 percent in July. The weakness suggested third-quarter economic growth would probably not improve much from the April-June's 1.3 percent annual pace.

Manufacturing, which has been the main driver of the recovery from the 2007-09 recession, has been hit by turbulence from sluggish domestic and global demand.

Fears that the U.S. Congress could fail to avert a "fiscal cliff" — the $500 billion or so in expiring tax cuts and government spending reductions set to take hold in 2013 — have also left businesses with little incentive to boost production.

Second-Quarter GDP Cut to 1.3%

Economic growth was much weaker than previously estimated in the second quarter as a drought cut into inventories, setting the platform for an even more sluggish performance in the current quarter against the backdrop of slowing factory activity.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.3 percent annual rate, the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2011 and down from last month's 1.7 percent estimate, the Commerce Department said in its final estimate on Thursday.

Output was also revised down to reflect weaker rates of consumer and business spending than previously estimated. Outlays on residential construction export growth were also not as robust as had been previously estimated.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected second-quarter GDP growth would be unrevised at a 1.7 percent pace. The economy grew at a 2 percent pace in the January-March period.

The worst drought in half a century, which gripped large parts of the country in the summer, saw farm inventories dropping $5.3 billion in the second quarter after slipping $1 billion in the first three months of the year.

Data in hand for the third-quarter suggest little improvement in the growth pace, even as the housing market digs out of a six-year slump. Manufacturing, the pillar of the recovery from the 2007-09 recession is cooling, hurt by fears of tighter U.S. fiscal policy in January and slower global demand.

The GDP report also showed that after-tax corporate profits unexpectedly rose at a 2.2 percent rate instead of the previously reported 1.1 percent increase. After-tax profits fell 8.6 percent in the first quarter.

Weekly Jobless Claims at Two-Month Low

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in two months.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, the lowest level since July, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised up to show 3,000 more applications than previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 378,000 last week. The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, fell 4,500 to 374,000, breaking five straight weeks of increases.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors influencing the report and no states had been estimated.

The labor market has been mired in weakness as worries about higher taxes and deep government spending cuts in January, the ongoing debt problems in Europe and slowing global growth lead employers to be cautious about ramping up hiring.

Sluggish job gains and stubbornly high unemployment spurred the Federal Reserve this month into launching a third round of bond purchases to drive down already low interest rates.

The U.S. central bank vowed to buy $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities each month until it sees a sustained upturn in the labor market.

The unemployment rate has been stuck above 8 percent for more than three years, the first time this has happened since the Great Depression, a hurdle for President Barack Obama's quest for a second term in office.

The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 4,000 to 3.27 million in the week ended September 15.

The so-called continuing data covered the week for the household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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(Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods in August fell by the most in 3-1/2 years, pointing to a sharp slowdown in factory activity even as a gauge of planned business spending rebounded.
 
The Commerce Department said on Thursday durable goods orders dived 13.2 percent, the largest drop since January 2009, when the economy was in the throes of a recession. Orders for July were revised down to show a 3.3 percent increase instead of the previously reported 4.1 percent gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected orders for durable goods -- items from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last at least three years -- to fall 5 percent.

Last month, the drop in orders reflected weak aircraft and automobiles demand. Boeing received only one aircraft order in August, down from 260 in July, according to information posted on the plane maker's website.

Transportation equipment tumbled 34.9 percent after racing ahead 13.1 percent in July. Excluding transportation, orders fell 1.6 percent after dropping 1.3 percent the prior month. Economists had expected this category to rise 0.3 percent after a previously reported 0.6 percent fall.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 1.1 percent, halting two straight months of hefty declines. That was above economists' expectations for 0.5 percent gain.

But shipments of these goods, which are used to calculate equipment and software spending in the gross domestic product report, fell 0.9 percent after declining 1.1 percent in July. The weakness suggested third-quarter economic growth would probably not improve much from the April-June's 1.3 percent annual pace.

Manufacturing, which has been the main driver of the recovery from the 2007-09 recession, has been hit by turbulence from sluggish domestic and global demand.

Fears that the U.S. Congress could fail to avert a "fiscal cliff" -- the $500 billion or so in expiring tax cuts and government spending reductions set to take hold in 2013 -- have also left businesses with little incentive to boost production.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

[tu_holmes]

This is on CNN's front page today.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/27/news/economy/obama-job-creation/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Obama may be a job creator after all
By Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney September 27, 2012: 2:27 PM ET

About 4.3 million jobs were lost in Obama's first year, but new data released Thursday show about 4.4 million jobs have been added back since then.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Republicans may soon lose a key talking point. According to data released Thursday, President Obama may now be a net job creator.

In the year following Obama's inauguration, the U.S. economy lost about 4.3 million jobs. But new figures released Thursday show 4.4 million jobs have been added back since then.

Here's how it happened: Since early 2010, jobs have slowly been trickling back, particularly in professional services, health care and manufacturing. As of August, the Labor Department had indicated about 4 million jobs had been recovered overall.

Those figures get revised frequently though, as the Labor Department gets more complete data over time. On Thursday, the Labor Department released a statement, saying it crunched the numbers again, using unemployment insurance records that employers are required to file.

Based on that data, the government now believes it under-counted jobs created in much of 2011 by around 386,000. That's according to preliminary figures that the government could still tweak slightly in February.

If true, those figures mean the economy has recovered 4.4 million jobs since early 2010 -- enough to fully account for the jobs lost in Obama's first term. In fact, Obama would be ahead by exactly 125,000 jobs.

The President is unlikely to brag about that on the campaign trail though. In a blog post Thursday, his top economic adviser in the White House, Alan Krueger, said the new data shows "the jobs recovery over the last 2.5 years has been a bit stronger than initially reported, although much work remains to be done to return to full employment."

Meanwhile, Republican nominee Mitt Romney still has plenty of fodder to criticize Obama on economic issues.

"President Obama's administration promised, with the passage of the stimulus, that unemployment would currently be at 5.4% with 9 million more people working," Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement, referring to a 2009 report by Obama's then chief economic adviser, Christina Romer.

"With unemployment at 8% or higher for the 43rd consecutive month and 23 million Americans struggling for work, President Obama's policies have failed miserably by his own standards," Saul added.

Given that the jobs decline started before Obama entered office, employment is still far below 2007 levels.

Hiring has barely been strong enough to keep up with population growth, and that's why the unemployment rate is still stuck at 8.1%.

A survey of households shows the U.S. population has grown 3.8% since Obama entered office, but jobs have only grown by 1.5% over that same time period.

About 12.5 million Americans were still counted as unemployed in August.

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So we got back what was lost in the first year, yet MILLIONS who are now in the work force have not found any jobs at all, and the 15 million prior also to that first year did not find jobs, and that is progress? 



LMFAO!!!!! 

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Home
Here Is The White House Spin On Today's Disappointing Economic Data
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/27/2012 12:57 -0400



A massive 13% collapse in durable goods, the biggest since January 2009; a $20 billion miss to annualized Q2 GDP estimates, and well below the lowest estimate, 60+ weeks of constant upward BLS revisions to initial claims "data" and not to mention assorted atrocious economic (note: not to be confused with market - the two are now completely unlinked) data from around the globe. And what does the White House say: the data shows that the "US is making progress." We sure wouldn't want to know what it would look like if after 3 episodes of easing, trillions injected into the economy via the Fed, and of course $6 trillion in extra debt the US was not making progress. Oh and yes, everything else is Bush's fault.

Full statement from the White House's Alan Krueger:

Today's Economic Data


More than the usual amount of economic statistics were released this morning. As a whole, today’s economic news shows that while we are still fighting back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we are making progress. We lost more than 8 million jobs and GDP contracted by almost 5 percent as a result of the Great Recession. We have more work to do, but incorporating today’s preliminary benchmark revision to the employment figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with their earlier data indicates that the economy has added nearly 5.1 million private sector jobs, on net, over the past 30 months. BLS announced that total employment likely grew by 386,000 more jobs than previously announced during the 12 months from March 2011 to March 2012, and by 453,000 more private sector jobs in that same time period. In the past decade, the absolute difference between the preliminary and final benchmark revision has averaged 37,000 jobs.

We also saw revised data released today showing that real GDP grew in the second quarter of 2012 by 1.3 percent at an annual rate. Real GDP growth in the second quarter was revised down due, in part, to a downward revision to agriculture inventories as a result of the devastating drought our nation faced this summer. The Obama Administration continues to take all available steps to mitigate the impacts of the drought, and has called on Congress to pass a farm bill that would spur growth and provide rural Americans with the certainty they deserve. We also learned today that the advance report of durable goods orders declined in August, largely as a result of a decline in orders for transportation equipment. Excluding the volatile transportation category, durable goods orders fell by 1.6 percent.

Today’s news shows that we must do more to strengthen our economy and promote job creation. Over a year ago, President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act – a plan that independent economists have said would create up to 2 million jobs. The President will continue to push policies that will continue this progress we have made, including incentives to strengthen the American manufacturing industry, investments in our nation’s infrastructure, and the extension of the tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses.

While we are still rebuilding our economy and working to recover from the worst crisis since the Great Depression, we are making progress and the last thing we should do is return to the economic policies that failed us in the past. The revisions announced in today’s reports are a reminder that economic data are subject to large revisions. As a whole the pattern of revisions suggest that the recession that began at the end of 2007 was deeper than initially reported, and the jobs recovery over the last 2.5 years has been a bit stronger than initially reported, although much work remains to be done to return to full employment.

Average:


Via ZeroHedge









More lies from obama

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Final Q2 GDP Disaster: 1.25% Growth Comes Below Lowest Estimate
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/27/2012 08:45 -0400

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-09-27/final-q2-gdp-disaster-125-growth-comes-below-lowest-estimate



So much for the US recovery (we will never tire of saying that). After the first Q2 GDP revision bubbled up from 1.5% to 1.7%, the sellside brigade was confident that the rate of growth would continue and final Q2 GDP would be in line. Instead, we got an absolute shock of a print, with the final Q2 GDP print coming in at a ridiculously low 1.25% (rounded up to 1.3%), below the lowest Wall Street estimate of 1.4%, and the lowest number since the revised 0.1% reported in January 2011. Here is the final GDP trendline: Q4 2011: 4.1%; Q1 2012: 2.0%; Q2 2012: 1.25%. Luckily, at least "housing has bottomed." The reason for the major contraction in the final print: a downward revision to all favorable components except Government which detracted the least from growth in years at just -0.14%. Of note - Personal Consumption was 1.06%, down from the 1.20% per the second revision. If nothing, we now know just what data Bernanke was looking at on an advance basis to come up with QEternity, and we also know the reason for the media and administration's all in gamble to reflate housing yet again. If the housing market does not go up courtesy of infinite cheap leverage, it could be curtains for the Bernanke reflation experiment.



Luckily, the centrally-planned policy vehicle once upon a time known as "the market" refuses to react to this horrendous, if only for the meaningless economy, news.

[garebear]

A Huge 386,000 Jobs

As if to pile on to what may be the worst two week period a presidential campaign has ever suffered, Governor Mitt Romney has now lost one of the campaign’s key narratives.

Romney can no longer claim that President Obama’s first term in office has resulted in a loss of jobs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with its annual update to benchmark unemployment numbers (for the more cynical among you, the BLS does this every fall so this is not a number being ‘timed’ for the election), and the numbers reveal that 386,000 more non-farm jobs were actually created between March, 2011 and April 2012 than what had been originally reported.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/09/27/bureau-of-labor-statistics-revises-job-growth-upward-by-a-huge-386000-jobs/

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A Huge 386,000 Jobs

As if to pile on to what may be the worst two week period a presidential campaign has ever suffered, Governor Mitt Romney has now lost one of the campaign’s key narratives.

Romney can no longer claim that President Obama’s first term in office has resulted in a loss of jobs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with its annual update to benchmark unemployment numbers (for the more cynical among you, the BLS does this every fall so this is not a number being ‘timed’ for the election), and the numbers reveal that 386,000 more non-farm jobs were actually created between March, 2011 and April 2012 than what had been originally reported.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/09/27/bureau-of-labor-statistics-revises-job-growth-upward-by-a-huge-386000-jobs/

LOL!!!!!  In a nation of 300,000,000 you think that is good?  LMFAO!

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Obama’s ‘Recovery’ is Worse Than Recession
 Red State ^ | 9/27/2012 | Daniel Horowicz

Posted on Friday, September 28, 2012 8:18:43 AM by IbJensen

Here we go again. GDP growth for Q2 of this year has been revised down to 1.3% from 1.7%. Our GDP now stands at $15.585 trillion, while our debt (including intragovernmental liabilities that must be dealt with) is $16.022 trillion. Durable goods orders have dropped 13.2% in August, the largest dip since January 2009. Orders for July were revised down.

Folks, this is not endemic of a recession. It’s worse than that. This is a sickly recovery.

The problem here is not the recession that Obama complains he inherited. We are no longer losing jobs and GDP is no longer contracting. The problem is the recovery. In fact, we began recovering jobs and GDP during the spring of 2009. So yes, the business cycle tends to endure, irrespective of who is in the White House. There was a very deep recession at the end of Bush’s term, and that recession ended in 2009. The same way Obama cannot be blamed for the initial recession in 2008, he cannot take credit for the immediate end of the recession so early in his term.

What is unprecedented and what is Obama’s fault is the ensuing lack of recovery. We have never had a recession in which we did not emerge from it in a stronger position. This recession is analogous to a 1,000-foot ditch. We stopped falling deeper into the hole in June 2009. However, instead of digging out of the hole, we are permanently coasting near the bottom of that trench. Hence, the protracted stagnation is much worse than the abrupt recession. It is this stagnation that Obama owns as a result of his intervention into every sector of the economy. The over 80 million hours of Obamacare rules and regulations that businesses must comply with is just one example of why the economy will never recover.

Take a look at this GDP chart posted by James Pethokoukis at AEI:

,p>

As you can see, the hemorrhaging stopped shortly after Obama took office. What has ensued is an unprecedented period of lethargic growth. We’ve never seen such weak growth in all the fundamentals of the economy this late after the recession ended. During the first two quarters of 1984, the economy grew by 8% and 7.1% respectively.

Romney must not let Obama get away with blaming the current economic malaise on the previous administration. Back in 2009, Obama bragged about the end of the recession. If the recession ended in 2009, the unprecedented lack of recovery that we are now incurring is due to his overly regulated crony capitalist economy. It’s the recovery stupid.

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Hundreds of Layoffs at Mohegan Sun Casino
 NBC Connecticut ^

Posted on Friday, September 28, 2012 7:23:59 AM by matt04

The signs of the struggling economy are again showing at Mohegan Sun Casino. Thursday night the Mayor of Montville confirmed that casino is laying off hundreds of workers, effective immediately.

Mayor Ronald McDaniel said that he's saddened by the news and that it will be difficult for those workers who got pink slips to find new jobs.

The New London Day reports that 282 employees were laid off immediately and that another 46 would be let go by the end of October.

The newspaper also reports that CEO Jeffrey Hartmann left the casino Wednesday.


(Excerpt) Read more at nbcconnecticut.com ...

[tu_holmes]

Serious question.

Is it possible that some of these layoffs or what have you are not factors of the economy?

Perhaps these CEOs or what have you just ran their companies into the ground?

Is that not possible?

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The Chicago PMI Report Was One Of The Nastiest Pieces Of Economic Data We've Seen In A Long Time
 


Joe Weisenthal|11 minutes ago|172|
 

We already reported that today's Chicago PMI data was week, but we wanted to circle back to it and spotlight some of the datapoints from it.
 
First of all: What is the Chicago PMI? It's a survey of Purchasing Managers at corporations, who are asked their take on the economy: How orders are doing, what they're doing with employment, what they're seeing with commodity costs, and so forth.
 
You can see by these tables (which you can download here) how much of a dropoff there was in activity in various categories.
 
Note in particular the collapse in New Orders and Employment and the jump-up in production costs (prices paid).
 

So that report, sadly, screams stagflation.
 
Also fascinating are the anecdotal comments about the economy.
 
Survey respondents had a lot to say about uncertainty and rising commodity costs.
 It seems that companies are starting to move forward again. Projects that have been on hold are again being discussed.
 Packaging prices are steady with some pressure or suggestions of increase without real merit. Chemical prices are increasing due to oil and corn in the case of ethanol.
 Copper moved higher quickly.
 Market place still seems unsettled. One automotive customer's projections for huge growth this year fizzled out during the 3rd quarter, yet another automotive customer's demands have shown healthy increases.
 Suppliers seem to be slower than ever with their orders, there seems to be no knowledge or creativity anymore if it isn't on the computer they can't do it.
 2012 drought, election year, recent change in Gulf weather all play into short term and long term prices of materials.
 Overall uncertainty with respect to government policies continues to make us hesitant to make significant investments in new areas.
 Uncertainty about taxes, regulations, and public policy going into 2013 is causing spending decisions to be deferred or constrained until the picture is clearer.
 Another month of lower order intake.
 
Again, this is just one report.
 
There have been other reports lately (Dallas Fed, Philly Fed, etc.) that show the opposite, that manufacturing is firming.
 
But the bottom line is that there's a maelstrom of 2013 uncertainty, higher commodity costs, and weak export orders that are slamming the economy. Hopefully the Chicago PMI report from today was just a blip.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-pmi-weak-2012-9#ixzz27mEPHo6e

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Serious question.

Is it possible that some of these layoffs or what have you are not factors of the economy?

Perhaps these CEOs or what have you just ran their companies into the ground?

Is that not possible?

Possible - but not likely.   The economy is a DISASTER overall. 

Just because frauds and thugs like the asshole in the WH and his lapdog media and gullible drones say otherwise does not make it true. 


1.3 % GDP!   That is a recession bro.   

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Americans’ Incomes Have Fallen $3,040 During the Obama ‘Recovery’


8:02 AM, Sep 27, 2012 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON


Americans must be wondering how much more of this “recovery” they can afford.  New figures from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, compiled by Sentier Research, show that the typical American household’s real (inflation-adjusted) income has actually dropped 5.7 percent during the Obama “recovery.”  Using constant 2012 dollars (to adjust for inflation), the median annual income of American households was $53,718 as of June 2009, the last month of the recession.  Now, after 38 months of this “recovery,” it has fallen to $50,678 — a drop of $3,040 per household.

Yet it gets worse.  Amazingly, incomes have dropped even more during the “recovery” than they did during the recession.  In fact, they’ve dropped more than twice as much as they did during the recession.  From the start to the end of the recession, the real median income of American households fell $1,413, or 2.6 percent.  From the end of the recession to the present day, it has dropped $3,040, or 5.7 percent.  This begs the question:  What kind of “recovery” compares unfavorably with the recession from which it’s ostensibly recovering?

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Campbell Soup Shutting Down Sacramento Plant; 700 Jobs Being Cut

September 27, 2012 12:11 PM



SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The Campbell Soup plant in Sacramento is closing as of July 2013 as the company says it is taking steps to “improve supply chain productivity,” according to a company release.
 
Employees were told of the closure during a 6 a.m. meeting Thursday at the plant.
 
“We employ about 700 people at the Sacramento plant and unfortunately those jobs will be eliminated,” said Campbell Soup Company spokesperson Anthony Sanzio. “This is a tough day for the company, for the employees. No one likes to do this.”
 
The company says the Sacramento plant, built in 1947, is the oldest in its network and has the highest production costs on a per-case basis.
 
Many of the employees at the plant have worked there their entire lives, and several told CBS13 they had no idea what they’d do next.

“This is devastating, really devastating,” worker Valerie Starr said. “A lot of us have been working here for years and we’re at that age where it’s hard to find other jobs.”
 
Campbell’s Spokesman Explains Decision To Close
 




Most of Sacramento’s production of soup, sauces and beverages will be shifted to Campbell’s three remaining thermal plants in North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
 
The company is also closing a spice plant in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
 
“We recognize this is difficult news for employees in Sacramento and South Plainfield. Campbell is committed to helping them work through this transition,” said Mark Alexander, president, Campbell North America. “We expect the steps we’re announcing today to improve our competitiveness and performance by increasing our asset utilization, lowering our total delivered costs and enhancing the flexibility of our manufacturing network. These actions also will eliminate the capital investments needed to maintain the Sacramento plant.”
 
The Sacramento plant is stopping production at the plant through this weekend. When it restarts, it will then begin to phase down production until it is officially closed down in July 2013.
 
Campbell does have several other facilities in California that will remain open. There are about 450 full-time and seasonal employees at its tomato processing plants in Dixon and Stockton. They also own Bolthouse Farms in Bakersfield.
 
RELATED: Comcast To Close 3 Northern California Call Centers; Shifting 1,000 Jobs Out-of-State
 
The announcement comes just two days after Comcast announced it will close all three of its call centers in Northern California, including one is Sacramento, because of the high cost of doing business in the Golden State.
 
“For over 65 years, the Campbell’s plant has been a major employer in our region,” Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) said in a statement after Campbell’s announcement. “It is unfortunate that Campbell’s has chosen to close their oldest plant and in the process lay-off 700 employees. As the economy slowly improves, closures like Campbell’s and Comcast here in our own backyard, reminds us all that unemployment is still at over 10 percent and we have a long way to go until a full economic recovery.”
 
According to Comcast, 1,000 Comcast employees, including 300 in Sacramento, will see their jobs shifted to the other centers.