Tag Archives: economy

NPR reports: U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in August, according to a monthly snapshot from the Labor Department, signaling a slowdown in the pace of job growth. Forecasters surveyed by the Reuters news service had predicted job gains of around 158,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. Manufacturers added just 3,000 jobs. The jobs total would have been lower …

CNBC reports: U.S. manufacturer growth slowed to the lowest level in almost 10 years in August, the latest sign that the trade war may be exacerbating the economic slowdown. The U.S. manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) was 49.9 in August, down from 50.4 in July and below the neutral 50.0 threshold for the first time since September 2009, according to …

The Hill reports: Approximately half of respondents in a new survey who voted for President Trump say they would blame him if the U.S. economy falls into a recession. A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that 42 percent of respondents who say they voted for Trump in 2016 would hold him partially responsible for an economic downturn, and another …

The Hill reports: Comedian Bill Maher on Friday continued his calls for another economic recession, claiming it would tank President Trump’s shot at reelection in 2020 and be “very worth” ending his policies. Speaking with a panel including political consultant Rick Wilson and journalists Betsy Woodruff and Carl Hulse, Maher dismissed criticism from people who “get mad” at rooting for …

CNBC reports: Recession risk is rising, according to Bank of America. Based on the most recent data, the bank’s global economist now sees a greater than 30% chance of a recession in the next year. “Our official model has the probability of a recession over the next 12 months only pegged at about 20%, but our subjective call based on …

Reuters reports: U.S. economic growth in 2018 missed the Trump administration’s 3% target by any measure, which could renew criticism of the White House’s $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. The Commerce Department said on Friday that gross domestic product increased at a 2.9% rate last year, confirming an estimate which was published in March. The department’s annual revisions to GDP …

From the real estate site Clever: To understand how expensive the American Dream has become — and whether it is still achievable today — we gathered Census data from 1960 to 2017 on home prices, rents, and household income. After adjusting for inflation over time, the future of the American Dream seems rather gloomy: Median home prices increased 121% nationwide …

Yahoo News reports: The U.S. economy added a sharply lower-than-expected 20,000 non-farm payrolls in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Consensus expectations called for 180,000 positions to be added for the month, according to Bloomberg data. February’s headline reading for new payrolls was the weakest in 17 months. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, from 4% in January. …

NBC News reports: A sprawling General Motors assembly plant near Youngstown was idled on Wednesday after more than 50 years producing cars and other vehicles, a move that will eliminate nearly 1,700 hourly positions by month’s end. GM announced late last year that Lordstown along with three plants in the U.S. and one in Canada would close by early next …

CNBC reports: If the government shutdown lasts another two weeks, the total cost to the U.S. economy would exceed the price of building the proposed border wall. According to an estimate by S&P Global, it will only take another two weeks to cost the economy more than $6 billion, exceeding the $5.7 billion that President Donald Trump demanded to fund …

Bloomberg reports: The number of Americans expecting the U.S. economy to get worse in the next year is at its highest point since 2013, a national NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows. A majority of Americans also say President Donald Trump has been untruthful about the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign, and half say the probe has given …

Agence France-Presse reports: The French government plans to announce Tuesday the suspension of fuel tax increases slated for January in a bid to quell the fierce protests which have ballooned into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, sources said. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will also unveil other measures to help boost the living standards of low-income households, the government …

The Chicago Tribune reports: General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles. The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. Most of …

USA Today reports: The economy added a healthy 250,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said Friday in the last employment report before midterm elections that President Trump has cast as a critical referendum on his stewardship of the economy. The unemployment rate was unchanged at a near 50-year low of 3.7 percent. Annual wage growth topped 3 percent for …

The death of physical retail grinds on: Brookstone, the ubiquitous seller of cool but largely unneeded things, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again and will close the 101 of its stores that are located in malls. Malls have suffered for years due to far-reaching shifts in the way that Americans shop for just about everything, which has diminished …

In a tweet that was posted three hours ago and has not been removed at this writing, the White House hailed the booming economy given to the United “Sates” by Glorious Leader. Embarrassing misspellings, aside, here’s some fact-checking from the Associated Press: The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. economy surged in the April-June quarter to an annual growth rate of 4.1 percent. That’s the fastest pace since 2014, driven by consumers who began spending their tax cuts and exporters who rushed to get their products delivered ahead of retaliatory tariffs. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the gross domestic product, the country’s …

The Washington Post reports: The Consumer Price Index, which measures how quickly prices are going up in the U.S. economy, rose at a faster than anticipated 2.1 percent in January compared to a year ago, triggering fears of another rocky run on Wall Street. The monthly Labor Department report on the price of everything from gas to groceries was closely …

The Associated Press reports: Dow Jones industrials plunged over 1,000 points Thursday, bringing the index down 10 percent from the record it reached two weeks ago. Stocks started to fall in early trading and extended their losses throughout the morning. The market’s turmoil began last Friday and has continued this week as investors worried about early signs of inflation. Analysts …

The Hill reports: The White House on Monday said the country’s “long-term economic fundamentals” remain “exceptionally strong” after U.S. stocks dropped sharply earlier in the day, extending a massive sell-off on Wall Street. “The president’s focus is on our long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. Sanders cited U.S. …