A recovering US is outpacing other major economies

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By PAUL WISEMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - As a brutal winter yields to spring, the U.S. economy is showing renewed strength just as other major economies appear desperate for help.

Europe is clinging to a fragile recovery. Japan just imposed a tax hike that threatens its shaky economic comeback. And China's troubles are rattling the global economy.

The resilience of the U.S. economy, after a growth-chilling winter, was evident in Friday's jobs report from the Labor Department. It said employers added 192,000 jobs in March and 37,000 more than in January and February than previously thought.

With the economy making steady gains, the Federal Reserve has been scaling back its bond purchases, which have been intended to lower interest rates to spur growth.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140406/DAD0LSS00.html

[Rod Beauvex]

1. I plan on job hunting tomorrow for the first time in awhile.

I don't see anything coming of it, though. The red state of Tennessee is pretty resilient to economic upturn.

[Treant]

6. I've been searching

(Pennsylvania here). So far, no luck.

The running joke in this household is that I'm soon to be sent out to the red light district of the city (we don't really have one), but that my husband will have to stop by once an hour to pick up the quarters I'm paid.

(No, that's not an insult, we're both middle aged and although well-preserved, nobody would pay for it and that's NOT an insult...merely the truth. Plus the fact that the latter comment came out of MY mouth).

[Bibliovore]

8. I know this may sound trite or impossible, but

...hang in there, and don't go into the job hunt expecting to fail. Recognize that it might be a long shot, but it's still worth trying and might well work. Sure, you'll probably get a bunch of rejections, but it only takes one offer to become employed. If you write cover letters and go into interviews expecting rejection, however, that attitude can come across to hirers and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Psych yourself up for it and go at it as confidently as you can. If a job is advertised, they're presumably hiring _someone_, and you get to convince them it should be you.

Best of luck to you, and to everyone else in similar situations.

[Rod Beauvex]

18. Thank you.

I mean, it's happened before, but I'm running out of options. I live in one of those small towns. I cannot go back to Lowe's. I cannot go back to Food City. i cannot get through Wal Mart's interviews. Any plant job simply won't hire me. I have a spotty work history, no talents, never had a promotion.

I spent a year checking up on a distillery job. Visited them once a week all the way up until they day they were going through the applications. Never had a call. I was so pissed I wasn't even considered for an interview.

[go west young man]

2. We've recovered in the sense that we are officially

the worlds biggest service economy with low paying jobs that have fallen behind inflation to the tune of the entire destruction of the middle class. Unless of course you use the other gauge....Wall Street profits have quadrupled! Where are the onshore initiatives and incentives and why aren't these offshoring corporations being fined for sending jobs overseas and avoiding taxes? Regular citizens are still saving nothing and have almost nothing in their bank accounts. These types of articles are all about convincing people they are doing well. The writers would do well to look into where the money is going instead of just writing that it is exponentially expanding economically.

[Helen Borg]

3. Dunno...

I see bubbles everywhere, more than a recovery...

[Treant]

7. This

To date, no bubble has surfaced in my area.

[bemildred]

11. +1. nt

[Demeter]

4. Translation: US has loosened a screw or two on its rack, Europe continues to throttle itself

while the East, dependent on exports, is dying for lack of customers.

How can anyone call this a recovery? The restraint on the economy from corruption, unpayable debt, and outsourced jobs continues. We just don't have to worry about the debt ceiling or the federal budget for a few months.

Congress refuses to extend unemployment compensation to the worst sufferers or implement jobs programs. It keeps cutting food stamps and cash assistance for the poor. It wants to kill the elderly by taking away their Medicare and Social Security. It is doing everything to destroy the economy and the people that make up that economy, all in the mistaken idea that this will FIX the economy.

Only if "fixing the economy" is made the equivalent of "fixing a dog".....

[onecaliberal]

5. If by recovery you mean

A lot more jobs at Walmart and McDonald's then I guess so.

[Omaha Steve]

17. I agree

[ballyhoo]

9. I don't see it. In mid-February Yellen said

no real recovery was underway, which is why she will have to suspend the taper on the bond buying. I have lived through many economic cycles. I have never seen one even remotely this bad. A bond market cannot buy a recovery when the structural fundamentals have been eviscerated.

[elleng]

10. I tend to agree with you, ballyhoo.

I've not been directly affected by recession or lack of recovery (Fed govt. employee and retiree,) and not a student of economics. I'm with Yellen, very glad she's where she is, and sorry she doesn't have more authority. (I do understand why what is.)

We've been hearing/seeing this feeble 'recovery is moving along' line for a long time, and while I accept the numbers upon which such statements are based, as long as congress does what it does, meaning does NOT do what it should do, and some in positions of power here and abroad maintain austerity as a remedy, no real recovery will occur, imo. As you suggest, the structural fundamentals must be attended to positively, that's not happening, and isn't likely to.

Welcome, ballyhoo.

[onecaliberal]

12. Agree

I see no increase demand in the economy. Only bubbles...

[elleng]

13. Actual demand won't increase, imo,

until people have reliable sources of income, as in unemploymentCOMPENSATION and a living wage, and our infrastructure is secured as a result of public investment, where clearly necessary. There is pent up demand, many people WAITING to acquire once they know they can rely on an adequate income.

This is NOT rocket science, but as long as repugs benefit from their widespread (and paid for) propaganda, We the People won't be able to act on that demand.

[onecaliberal]

22. Definitely

There is no demand because people have nothing to spare. You're completely right about nothing changing until we get money into the hands of those who can spend it. Supply side Econ is an epic failure and every honest person knows it.

[elleng]

23. Thanks, and Welcome, onecaliberal.

[onecaliberal]

24. Thank you

Elleng

[ballyhoo]

14. Hello, Elleng. Thank you. We have had

what I can only characterize as a "pretend" recovery pretty much done like a tv show. I call i "Breaking Bad Part 2". I wish you the best of luck. My father retired from the government (AEC) at a 16, then died before he could enjoy it. When the economy does finally begin to recover you won't read much about it. It simply will happen. I am not sanguine about it for a host of reasons, some which may initially appear unrelated. See ya on the thread highway.

[elleng]

15. Thanks, ballyhoo.

Yes, it simply will happen, kind of like currently shrinking deficit, don't hear much about it.

See ya!

[Rod Beauvex]

19. No real recovery.

I'm glad we finally have a government official actually admitting this. Three cheers for Yellen.

[elleng]

25. Right, and this is why I was so pleased when she was appointed,

her reputation as a straight shooter.

[IBEWVET]

16. Instead of buying bonds

Why don't we start a major works program repairing roads and the electric grid and PUT PEOPLE TO WORK! That is what is needed instead of giving money to banks, put people to work!

[Lucky Luciano]

26. Congress has to do that. The fed has done what it can do. nt

[blkmusclmachine]

20. The 1% is doing very well, thank you.

[krkaufman]

21. I call b-s

Japan just imposed a tax hike that threatens its shaky economic comeback.

Says who? Why is it that a tax increase is just assumed to have a negative effect on the economy? Does this writer even realize that he's spewing a biased, inaccurate (or at least incomplete) perspective?

What a country or government is doing with its tax revenues has a whole lot bigger effect on the economy than any uptick/decline in tax rates.

[Lucky Luciano]

27. It is a regressive sales tax hike from 5 to 8%. nt

[sendero]

28. More economic propaganda...

... I have lost track of the exact amount of Fed QE, but they have stated clearly and recently that the Zero Interest Rate Policy will remain in effect at least through 2015. The ZIRP is an abomination that creates all kinds of collateral damage and the Fed isn't continuing it because they think the economy is recovering, exactly the opposite.

Saying we are doing better than Europe is like calling a turtle speedy because it can outrun a snail. Job growth is still very anemic, worker participation is still very low, and the jobs that ARE getting created are mostly McJobs.

I've been saying this for 6 years now but apparently it bears repeating: "THERE IS NO RECOVERY".

[GliderGuider]

29. +1. The "recovery" is little beyond smoke and mirrors. The global economy is still at risk.

Saying "The US economy is recovering" is like saying "My end of the ship isn't sinking!"

There are no isolated economies in the world at this point. That may change over the coming decades, but nobody is going to like the outcome.