The Numbers Keep Coming
By KnightHawk ~ June 21st, 2006 @ 11:31 am
It was only weeks ago that I turned on the TV to hear broadcasts complaining about how the “good” economy (which the media has barely ever admitted to in the first place) was taking a turn for the worst. Well if I’d actually taken anything they said seriously then the following recent facts might have surprised me.
- Employment: Employment increased in 48 states between May ’05 and May ’06. Despite a small blip in May, first time weekly jobless claims fell to there lowest point in four months. These same claims are down 6% year over year, and the ‘continuing’ claims are down 7% over the same point last year. The unemployment rate stands at 4.6 percent, near historic lows.
- The consumer sentiment index rose unexpectedly a few points to 82.4 in June. Inflation expectations are trending downward to 3.4% vs. initial estimations of 4.0% due to the feds continued tightening. In another sign economic growth remains strong the White House revised the yearly GDP growth target to 3.6% this past Thursday.
- After a dip in may the manufacturing and factory sectors shows signs of surging in June. Hourly wages were up 3.7% year over year in May. It’s widely accepted the federal reserve will raise rates another quarter point next week to 5.25% as inflation concerns seem to be the only worry.
- After all the talk of the historic housing boom busting, it’s not happened and while some slowing in growth is expected the sector seems positioned to continue it’s good health.
There are certainly some concerns to watch such as inflation and energy prices to keep abreast of over the rest of the year, but I’m not buying into any hype about a weakening economy short of some major incident. I keep looking for the misery and malaise John Kerry and Teddy “hiccup” Kennedy talked about in 2004 without any luck, let me know if you can find it.
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