Could a recession lie ahead? Watch the job market.

[babylonsister]

Could a recession lie ahead? Watch the job market.
The US economy lost 4,000 jobs in August. Home builders, factories, and schools were hit hard.
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the September 10, 2007 edition

Reporter Mark Trumbull discusses a decrease in job creation numbers and the possibility of a US recession.


The latest snapshot of American employment showed the first monthly decline in four years, but the worst part is this: The numbers suggest a steady weakening of the job market, not just an August dive.

Factories, home builders, and public schools all saw big employment losses in August, yielding a net loss of 4,000 jobs for the nation. But what's more troubling than the negative tally, economists say, is the breadth of deceleration.

Job creation in the service sector, where most US jobs are, has been cooling – from food services to professional occupations. Healthcare is one notable exception.

"I don't think it's a one-month number," says John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. "Businesses are expecting some slowdown in the economy, and they're reacting to it by not hiring people."

Meanwhile, consumer spending has been growing more slowly, too.

These patterns raise the risk of a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. If economic uncertainty is prompting businesses to postpone hiring, and consumers to postpone purchases, a recession becomes much more probable.

more...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0910/p01s02-usec.html

[Atman]

1. B...B...B...But TAX CUTS! They worked WONDERS, remember?

Even if you want to believe that BushCo Bullshit, why bother? Why bankrupt the economy on a policy/scheme whose benefits only last a couple of years at best (again, IF you believed the tax cuts "worked" in the first place; I do not)? Shouldn't such a far reaching policy do more than prop us up for a very short period of time? That's kinda like getting your Hyundai Accent up to 115 mph on the highway for 1/4 mile and then calling it a sports car...when in reality, if you tried to sustain that speed for a full mile, the thing would disintegrate -- just before the engine blew up.

Oh well. I've been saying this jobs stuff is bullshit for years. They've lied virtually every months about the job growth, and gone back and revised downward every month they bragged about being so strong.


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Atman/58">"The BushCo Economy: Dueling Realities"

[BlueJazz]

2. I like your Comparison/Scenario with the Car..Very Good and to the point!

:)

[TalkingDog]

4. reminds me of my favorite voice over sound collages....

from Man or Astro Man? (I think).

It's a race car driver giving an anti-drug speech to high schoolers. And he is using the analogy of putting nitro in the cars to give them a boost of speed.

(paraphrasing here)

And we would put the nitro in the tank. And you know what would happen? Those cars would run like hell for 3 or 4 miles.....Then they would blow all to Hell. (cue ripping surf rock....)



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[saltpoint]

3. Yep. And add to those totals the inordinate number of Republicans who

will be out of work after November 2008.

Unless they're hauled off to jail first, in which case it will be even sooner.