Signs of U.S. Economic Recovery Abound

[Socialist Christian]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1895&e=4&u=/nm/20031120/bs_nm/economy_dc


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Factories in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region expanded this month and fewer Americans lined up to collect unemployment benefits last week, two reports showed on Thursday, hinting at yet another quarter of rapid growth.


The Philadelphia Federal Reserve (news - web sites) said its index of regional manufacturing activity came in at 25.9 in November, unraveling a little of October's huge jump to 28.0 but still an impressive result historically.


"It doesn't really change the view that the manufacturing sector is coming along very nicely here," said Andrew Delano, a currency analyst at Wall Street think-tank IDEAglobal.


A pullback in new orders did temper investor optimism about the factory sector and prompted modest gains in Treasury prices. Equities were mixed, paying more attention to geopolitical concerns than domestic data.

[hatrack]

1. Did they mention the all-time record in personal bankruptcies?

The 95% drop in foreign Treasury purchases?

The fiddling of the new unemployment claims numbers?

The continuing drumbeat of layoffs (1,550 announced just today)?

I didn't think so.

[Ripley]

4. And don't forget our nation's largest retailer

Walmart (and Target, too) have lowered their expectations for a good Christmas season.

If people aren't buying it up at Walmart before Xmas, you know something's wrong.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Even Toys-R-Us has announced plans to close some stores...

...all this in the teeth of the Bushie-proclaimed "growing economy".

[Robbien]

2. The headline does not seem to match the story

Insiders in this story are using terms "unraveling" "pullback" and "modest" while the cheerleader reporter is using the term "abound". The reporter should give the everyday joe a break and stop all the crappy hiney smooching.

[shrike]

7. I used to write headlines for a living

Reporters, as a rule, do not write headlines for their own stories. That task is performed by a copy editor in the newsroom. I often hear people complain about misleading headlines. Sometimes the copy editor is going for a "hook" to get people to read. More often, though, the copy editor is so damned rushed he or she doesn't have time to read the story properly. At least that's been my experience.

[mhr]

3. Signs Of Economic Bottom Abound

What does this do to help the millions that are still unemployed.

How about all the new job losses announced just today.

Seems we are treading water not recovering.

Here in North Dallas, the mortgage foreclosure rate is up 34% on average this year.

In one suburb city, Plano, TX, it is up 350% this year.

Economic recovery, Bah Humbug!

[PurityOfEssence]

8. But are those people still going to vote Republican?

Just what IS going on in Texas?

[Wwagsthedog]

9. Yes

And I live in Texas. Not one thing nice to say about politics here so I won't say anything. To do otherwise would go against my choice to avoid profanity.

[Skittles]

18. hello there mhr

I, unfortunately, live in Plano.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. More Neocon BS spin

With all the news about major corporations such as AT&T, GM, and more, outsourcing to overseas, we are headed for a huge crash in terms of employment and socioeconomic living statistics. The outsourcing will probably keep the stock market and the GNP alive and well, but more and more unemployed Americans will be living below poverty level and not be counted.

[ozone_man]

17. Well, the stock market is still twice over valued,

and that's being generous. I think the bear is resuming at this point, i.e., the bear market rally top is most likely in place.

GNP or GDP can't stay up either. GDP is 2/3 based on consumer spending, which going to seize up pretty hard as the tax cut money is gone and credit card debts are due,

[Yavin4]

6. When You Can't Manage The Problem, Manage The Coverage

of the problem. Don't forget. We're in the Christmas season, so it's in the media's interest to play up the economy at every turn. It's really no different from where it was a year ago or two years ago. There are still millions unemployed and millions more underemployed. However, the media needs people to buy the stuff that's advertised on their networks, newspapers, and websites.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

13. Trying to find the pony...

...in a big mound of horse shit.

The fact that long-term unemployment is (still) rising doesn't bode well, and many states have six-month cut-offs so many of those who are unemployed longer than that aren't even counted any more.

Those who are finding jobs are down-sizing from a managerial position to a technician's job. From a union construction job to working in the paint department at Home Depot. From secretarial work to in-home child care.

A quarter of a million jobs created in the past three months? Dandy. Economists generally agree that the economy has create 150,000 jobs each month just to account for the increasing population. That means that in the past three months 200,000 people (primarily younger workers) have put off entering the work force because there aren't any jobs available.

"Employment's back; it's good for consumer spending, good for holiday shopping," said John Lonski, chief economist for Moody's Investors Service.

John needs some of whatever Rush Limbaugh's been using.

[tom_paine]

10. And Toilet Paper Production is up 600%, Comrades!

Pay no attention to those 6-hour lines!

These are LIES fabricated by our ENEMIES!

</sarcasm off>

Remeber when the government was at least a little more trustworthy than the Soviets?

Those days are rapidly coming to an end, if they haven't ended already. The Busheviks ARE the Soviets, albeit with a Free-Market bent.

[prolesunited]

11. Interesting you should say that

I have a co-worker who lived in Poland when it was under Communist rule. We have had a number of fascinating discussions about the political climate in the U.S. If anyone knows propaganda, she certainly does.

One observation that she made really stands out: Although the people in Poland were being fed lies, they all knew it and became experts in reading between the lines. Here, the people believe all of the propaganda that they are being fed.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

14. Give us time

Most Americans grew up in a country where you could generally believe what the media was telling you, because there was a sense of purpose among journalists. They saw themselves as writing the "rough draft of history" and they actually competed among themselves to get the fastest and most accurate story out to the public.

Now that journalists have become essentially government stenographers, it's taking the public a while to figure what they can and can't believe.

[Yavin4]

16. We've Always Have Had Bad Journalists, But They

were an anamoly. Most journalists at least tried to get the truth. The American people are losing their respect for journalists every day.

[glitch]

15. free-market bent? not with no-bid contracts

more like free-market spin.

[mumon]

19. stock market down today...

inventories are up,

money sucked out of the US

Yeah, things are just rosy!

[Gloria]

20. "A pullback in new orders"---well, what do you think that means???

Slowdown coming?

[Maeve]

21. Hmmmm...compare that first paragraph with this

But continued claims, the number of people out of work for a week or more, rose to 3.5 million for the week ended Nov. 8, the latest data available, from a revised 3.48 million the prior week.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/20/news/economy/jobless/index.htm

"Initial Claims" isn't the whole story.

[stanwyck]

22. Of course unemployment is down!

It's NOVEMBER. Retail is hiring seasonal employees. Don't we always see a drop in unemployment claims during November? I wish the economy was improving. But I believe there are still many serious problems this administration is not addressing. Huge deficits. Under-employment. Survival employment. Waning benefits. Longer hours. Promotions and raises stalled. The dollar at an all-time low against the Euro. Poor foreign relations exacerbating trade relations. The push is on to hype the economy to encourage people to overspend during the holiday season. If the economy is rosy, we should all see record Christmas bonuses this year. Or, maybe just the CEOs will. What do you think?