Maybe we can put to rest, the sly, opportunistic talk that the Obama economic recovery is faltering

[bigtree]

. . . ya think?


US economy picks up after early spring slump

May 16, 2012

Maybe the U.S. economy’s strength this winter wasn’t just weather-related after all.

Home construction is near a three-year high. And factory output has risen in three of the year’s first four months.

The data released Wednesday suggest growth in the April-June quarter is off to a good start, helped by falling gas prices and solid hiring gains. Fears of a spring slump are easing.

“It’s all very encouraging,’’ said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “Things look good at the moment.’’


read: http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-16/business/31730014_1_factory-output-economists-annual-pace

related:

Beginning Home Construction in U.S. Exceeded Forecasts in April
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-16/beginning-home-construction-in-u-s-exceeded-forecasts-in-april.html

Builders start construction on more homes in April
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1091-housing/227711-builders-start-construction-on-more-homes-in-april



from the Commerce Dept.:

New Residential Construction
Submitted on May 16, 2012 - 8:47am

Building permits in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000, down 7.0 percent from the revised March rate but up 23.7 percent from April 2011. Housing starts in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000, up 2.6 percent from March’s revised estimate and up 29.9 percent from April 2011.
http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/ei/documents/2012/May/newresidentialconstruction28april201229.pdf

[RC]

1. Doesn't mean a whole lot until we get our Living Wage Jobs back.

Instead of importing from China or somewhere, manufacture whatever we need in this country again. The economy is still in a slump, with few real signs of recovery.
The people with money can still make money. The rest of us, not so much till the economy recovers, which is not happening very fast because the money supply is tied up in the upper crust and not circulating on Main street - Who's businesses aren't paying Living Wages anymore.

[bigtree]

2. you know it won't just jump to that point immediately

You won't hear critics or almost anyone else say that a declining economy 'doesn't mean much until . . .'

Credit where credit is due.

[RC]

4. True, but it would help to stop bailing out the big boys and bail out Main Street instead.

[bigtree]

5. would that the White House had the power of the purse

I think a more balanced view of the administration's attention to 'Main Street' vs. Wall Street is found in their proposals, more than measuring from what Congress grudgingly enacted.

[deacon]

3. Even if it was faltering it would be no reason to go back to bushanomics. n/t

[RC]

6. Who said anything about going back to bushanomics?

We are still in the grips. We haven't really left yet. That is why we have not rebounded.
Where is the re-regulation of the big financial institutions that would prevent the "Too Big To Fail" from failing?
I am hearing rumors of bailing out J.P.Morgan with more tax payers money. NO. Break them up and sell off the pieces. Imprison the guilty. Pay back the losses from the CEO and Board of Directors. That will put a stop to "Too Big To Fail" from fleecing the public for their gambling losses. The era of "Heads They Win, Tails We Lose" needs to come to an end.
Until them it will be business as usual, with cooked numbers being presented to the public to try to convince us the economy is recovering, when it isn't really.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. The unemployment rate in California is still about 11%. Hard to square that

number with your rose-colored glasses view. But I'm willing to listen. (N.B. I'm one of those long-term unemployed Californians.)

Nice to know, though, that you consider me 'sly' and 'opportunistic.' I consider you Pollyanna-ish and Panglossian, fwiw.

[WI_DEM]

8. California is in chaos thanks to Arnold & policies past years ago re: taxes.

[sendero]

9. I agree..

... because there isn't a recovery to begin with.

[WI_DEM]

10. Dems have to push the narrative that the economy has been coming back

and is coming back and Obama saved the country from depression.

[Scurrilous]

11. K & R