Been down so long, it looks like up to me
by digby
Dean Baker on the weak job numbers:
While the slower pace of job growth in this report is a surprise to many analysts, the stronger rate in the first half of this year really was not consistent with the rate of GDP growth that we have seen recently or is generally forecast for the near future. If the economy is growing in a 2.5 percent range, then we should expect to see job growth of around 1.0 percent, or 1.4 million a year. Unless the economy grows far more rapidly than is general expected, we should expect to see job growth well under 200,000 a month.
On the other hand, as tepid as that is, it’s still better than this:
The latest GDP report for the euro area is in, and GDP was flat compared to Q1 and up only 0.7 percent compared to last year. This comes on top of news from a few days ago that euro-area inflation is down to 0.3 percent, which is dangerously close to deflation territory. The basic GDP chart is below.
(Yes, I know that one chart is GDP and one is employment, but you get the drift.)
But hey, we got some good news yesterday! That’s right. It’s not just the 99% that’s seeing huge gains at the expense of everyone else. Now the 97 and 98 percenters are getting a piece of that action! The super rich are trickling down some of their excess pocket change to the upper classes! Happy days are here again.
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