Consumers remain in holding pattern
Published August 11, 2014
Editorial by Burlington Times-News, August 8, 2014.
About a month ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released figures about how states are faring five years after the end of the Great Recession.
To jog your memory: Through May, only 18 states have bested the United States as a whole in job recovery. Almost two-thirds of the nation still is trying to make it back to even, despite generally positive overall employment numbers and a booming stock market.
Now, the good folks at the Gallup Organization have another set of numbers for us to ponder. Quoting a story by Josh Boak and Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press Economics Writers: “The Gallup Organization has found that consumers’ view of the economy is the glummest it’s been in seven months.”
The reason for the glum-and-doom mood can be traced straight to piggy banks and pocket books. Wages have not kept up with inflation, and so those whose incomes remained level since December 2007 — the start of the Great Recession — are bringing home at least 6 percent less once inflation is factored in.
It is hard to gain ground when there are fewer full-time jobs and when existing job openings remain unfilled for longer periods. The Labor Department reports 18.8 percent of the jobs in the U.S. economy are part-time jobs, up from 16.5 percent before the Great Recession.
According to one study, job openings are staying vacant about 2.5 days longer than pre-recession — 25 days.
That leaves experts wondering about the disparity. Are prospective employees not properly trained for the available jobs? Are the available jobs paying too little? Are employers not trying as hard to fill positions, allowing them to save to wages and benefits?
The answer probably is a mix of all three; regardless, the mix is bad one for many homeowners. Real estate firm Zillow is cited in the Boak and Rugaber article as reporting that nearly 37 percent of mortgage holders were “effectively underwater” through the end of March. That includes those who owe more than the home is worth as well as those whose homes, if sold, would not generate enough money to cover the closing costs and down payment on a new home.
Going full-circle back to the piggy banks and pocket books, American consumers are demonstrating extreme caution in spending what they have scraped together. Car sales are up, with many folks enticed by better fuel economy and high-tech amenities, but other categories are suffering.
What is it going to take to shake off this cloud? We wish we had an answer. Clearly, Americans have put themselves in a holding pattern, waiting to see what new development is ahead on the economic front before making changes in behavior and attitude.
Let’s hope we don’t have to circle this metaphorical airport too much longer.
http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/our-opinion/consumers-remain-in-holding-pattern-1.356740
August 11, 2014 at 11:32 am
Norm Kelly says:
'What is it going to take to shake off this cloud? We wish we had an answer'. Me too. Cuz it seems that if someone simply pays attention to the FACTS, the answers are relatively obvious. Since the left does everything in it's power to ignore facts, it's no surprise the Burlington Times-News can't come up with any answers.
Let's review some of the facts.
Federal spending is OUT OF CONTROL! The national debt has risen by over 6TRILLION dollars since the current occupier started occupying. The nation could not afford the debt level we had when he took over. The occupier referred to the debt increase under Mr. Bush as 'unpatriotic'. I believe he also referred to it as unsustainable. Yet he has added so much to it that it's hard to keep up with. And his socialist plans, along with his allies in Congress, shows that there is NO END in sight for the amount the debt will increase. There's not a single Demoncrat in Washington who cares about the current size of the debt, recognizes that the continued growth in the debt is dooming the nation, or that their own plans will only exacerbate the problem. Want an example of their plans to change things? Just ask K what her plans are!
Federal regulations are OUT OF CONTROL! Every day the central planners interject themselves more & more into daily life. Not just daily life of individuals who used to be free, but every day life of businesses. The first lady goes on a rampage about the items sold in WalMart, threatening to bring down the weight of the central planners if Wallyworld doesn't change their product mix. So, wallyworld responds by changing the products they sell, causing the price to consumers to go up. The socialist first lady gets new food regulations passed for schools across the nation. Kids start to protest. Nobody cares. It's even to the point now where schools will have their funds eliminated, or fines levied, if fund raiser/bake sales permit foods that aren't on Michelle's approved list. Talk about central planner control! Then there's the whole set of regulations and additional expenses involved with socialized medicine.
The central planners believe they are in COMPLETE control of EVERYTHING! Remember when Boeing built a new plant in South Carolina and wanted to GROW their business in the nation? How did the central planners respond? They sued Boeing in an effort to get them to stop construction, force them to NOT expand into SC, and attempted to fine them in a major way because there was a claim that UNION WORKERS would suffer in Washington state. None of the claims made by either the NLRB or Washington unions was provably true, but the central planners went about intimidating a PRIVATE business anyway. And then the socialists in control wonder why American businesses expand overseas instead of here at home!
Part Time jobs ARE THE NORM NOW! Not full-time jobs, but part time jobs. Unemployment isn't coming down because of the wonderful economic plans coming from the socialists in Washington! The only reason the demons in Washington are hell-bent on raising the minimum wage is because their own schemes are preventing full time jobs from being created. So, if they force private business to pay more for part time workers, they get to claim that take-home pay went up during their watch. They don't take into account that forced raising of the minimum wage will also increase the COST OF GOODS for everyone else, which actually has a negative impact on the economy.
Scandal after scandal after scandal after scandal involving the occupier directly or people who report to him directly. Nothing in Washington appears to be functioning properly. People violate the law and are PROTECTED by the elites in Washington. The IRS targets private citizens opposed to the current occupier and NOTHING happens. Citizens are beaten down by their own government for the simple act of disagreeing with the occupier and working to educate others about the disaster in progress, and attempting to change the failing direction of the country. Targeted by our own government, which is reflective more of Nazi Germany than it is a free society that used to be called The United States of America. The occupier appears to be targeting Christians at every turn. Private businesses are being told who they MUST do business with. Private businesses are NO LONGER allowed to make decisions for themselves, but must be concerned how the central planners are going to target them.
The list of reasons why the economy is in a holding pattern goes on and on and on. I've only touched on the surface. I don't have the time nor the resources to cover all of them here.
But for the Burlington Times-News to say they wish they had any kind of answers is so disingenuous as to be funny. Not ha-ha funny. Sad funny. Like they are purposely trying to mislead the citizens sorry enough to read their rag. Like they are purposely ignoring the facts in front of their eyes in order to NOT point the finger of blame where it belongs: in Washington, squarely on the demoncrat party as a whole and directly on the shoulders of the current occupier. Is the Burlington Times-News afraid to print the truth, the whole truth, because of the history of this administration to target anyone who opposes the current occupier? See, another example of a private business that cowers from fear of the central planners. What could be any other reason for the Burlington Times-News to so blatantly and obviously mislead/lie to their readers? Could bias toward the Socialist Party of the US be another reason that readership of 'used to be news'papers is in decline? No. Can't be. Readership is down only because of the Internet. Just listen to the excuses coming from the supporters of socialism, supporters of misleading the public, and you will know that their bias is NOT the reason people are leaving them in the dust. It's technology reducing paper. It's not the lies and obfuscations that are driving people away. Anyone who reads this post from Burlington Times-News will be able to clearly see their attempt to support the regime and 'mislead' their audience. Shame on the Burlington Times-News. At least the N&D in Raleigh attempts to cover up their bias better than this. It's harder to see their bias sometimes. But it's there nonetheless.
