JMHO Loc: Utah

In the seventh year of Barack Obama's administration, the economy is still getting failing grades that have been the hallmark of his trouble-filled presidency.

While he continues to go about the country telling v**ers that his policies are working, this week's dreary economic data tell a far different story.

The bleak headlines in the nation's major newspapers tell the story in its bluntest terms.

"Stocks fall on disappointing economic data," said USA Today.

"U.S. stocks fall on weak economic data," blares The Wall Street Journal, with this subhead: "Private payrolls rise less than expected in March, adding to concerns about U.S. growth."

What these stories say is that the economy is growing even more slowly than before; incomes remain largely flat; factories are getting fewer orders than they'd hoped; and many Americans now say they worry about money and are keeping a tighter grip on their wallets.

Meantime, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen made it clear in her news conference last week that she continues to be concerned about the economy's slowdown, and was in no hurry to raise interest rates anytime soon.

Let's take these one at a time.

Our economy grew at little more than 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's final estimate -- leading many economists to lower their growth estimates for the first quarter of 2015.

Wall Street economists now estimate that "economic output will rise in the first quarter at an annual rate of just over 1 percent," the New York Times reported last week.

Barclays lowered its first quarter growth rate forecast to 1.2 percent, as did Macroeconomic Advisers, a respected forecasting firm. It had been predicting 2.4 percent growth in the first quarter.

This is a pathetic growth rate, compared to the strong recovery in the 1980s when quarterly GDP rates soared between 4 and 8 percent, fueled by across-the-board tax cuts enacted under the Reagan administration.

The most troubling sign of the economy's weakness came this week when the Institute for Supply Management reported that manufacturing growth plunged in March to its slowest rate in nearly two years -- the result of declining durable goods orders and "stagnant employment."

Meantime, the monthly jobs survey by Automatic Data Processing Inc, and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics reported Wednesday that employers added only 189,000 jobs last month, well below the 225,000 most economists were forecasting.

There were other signs of an economic slowdown, too, including a decline in construction spending, falling sales among automakers, including Ford and GM, and a weak real estate market.

Forecasters have said that lower gasoline prices would lead to increased consumer spending, but that has not proved to be the case. Income-strapped consumers are holding on to their money as fears spread of a slowdown in the economy.

Consumer spending barely rose by a minuscule 0.1 percent in March, following a 0.2 percent decline in both January and February, the Commerce Department said.

If anyone, besides Obama, thinks people are feeling more confident about this economy, the latest poll by the Gallup organization should disabuse them of that.

This week, it asked Americans if this statement applied to them: "In the last seven days you have worried about money." Over a third of those polled said it did.

That's not hard to understand when economic data last month showed that wages barely rose and for very many Americans, good, full-time jobs were still hard to find.

Forget those phony, seasonally-adjusted job numbers that come out of the Labor Department which refuses to count millions of discouraged workers -- who've stopped looking for a few weeks -- as unemployed.

The jobless rate wasn't 5.6 percent as the government tells us, but 6.4 percent, according to this week's daily poll by Gallup. And for those who need full-time work but have to settle for part-time jobs, Gallup puts the underemployed rate at a shocking 15.5 percent.

Little wonder then that Obama's job approval polls have been stuck in the mid-forties for a long time, according to its daily tracking surveys.

Economic confidence surveys aren't anything to write home about, either. "The index has been slightly negative in five out of the past six weeks," Gallup says.

Seven years is a very long time to wait for a significant improvement in the economy, especially when the record books tell us that the average length of recessions we've had over the decades is about two years.

Economists say there are two kinds of recoveries. One is a V-shaped recovery where the economy soars straight up into a robust, high growth rate, job creating trajectory.

That's what happened in the Reagan recovery when in a single month (September 1983) his policies created over one million jobs.

Then there is the so-called Obama recovery where the economy remains sluggish year after year, growth remains perpetually anemic, capital investment is mediocre, and it never fully recovers.
Indeed, when Federal Reserve chair Yellen talked about the economy last week, she still talked about it in terms of the recovery -- as in a work in progress.

Her reluctance to say when the Fed will begin raising interest rates, and take the Obama economy off its life support system, speaks volumes about its weakness.

Instead, she said that "the appropriate time has not yet arrived."

T***slation: The Obama economy is still far too anemic to stand on its own two feet without the Fed propping it up.

Meantime, let's face it. This economy isn't going to ever regain its full health and vigor until the v**ers put someone else in the Oval Office who knows what it takes to get the engine of growth running at full throttle again.

by Donald Lambro

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Damn, I forgot my hip boots. This stuff is piled so high it's hard to wade through all of it. Mr. Donald Lambro is a fool. He says..." This economy isn't going to ever regain its full health and vigor until the v**ers put someone else in the Oval Office who knows what it takes to get the engine of growth running at full throttle again". Well that certainly eliminates putting a Conservative into the Oval Office. They destroyed the economy, in the first place. In reality, although the economy has not achieved perfection, it is infinitely much better than when President Obama took office. Again the Republicans did everything, in their power, to sabotage the economy, in order to make President a "One term President. So loser Lambro, if the economy isn't exactly in the position you think it needs to be, then blame the Republicans, they are still trying to block any efforts to get the economy going again.

JMHO Loc: Utah

Anyone who reads your post need to have full length waders on! What a bunch of libtard bulls**t! You have drank the Kool Aid LCDR!

Antisocialist Loc: Florida

Democrats need to accept responsibility for the Great recession; their demand that banks give home loans to people with no jobs, no money, and no credit didn't work out so well and was the main factor that forced the implosion of our economy.

When you look at all the data, our economy is headed down again, quite possibly towards a recession.

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Again you have no clue what you're talking about, which is par for the course. At least get it straight, I retired from the Navy as a Commander.

Antisocialist Loc: Florida

Here you go dumbass; wade through this just reported economic news;


The U.S. added just 126,000 jobs in March, well below expectations of 245,000 jobs, leading to concerns that a long run of labor market momentum has stalled. The government also sharply revised downward job creation numbers for earlier in the first quarter.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2015/04/03/march-jobs-report/

That number is beyond pathetic.

JMHO Loc: Utah

No, it is you, pal, who doesn't have a clue! Par for the course for a libtard.

Ohhhh, excuse me Commander...how many knee pads did you wear out? Just curious.

BTW, did you happen to serve on the USS Sides FFG-14?

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

OMG, another Republican apologist.

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

What are you a Monkey? You know "Monkey see, Monkey do". It seems as if I post something you have to echo it and repost it.

Actually there is no excuse for you. The answer to your question is...None.

Why yes I did, are you stalking on my Facebook page, you pervert?

JMHO Loc: Utah

Nope, didn't know you had a Facebook page, nor do I care. I just happen to know some one who served with you, and I won't go into his opinion of you.... :wink:

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Speak about a dumbass, you're using one month's data to support your argument? You're more challenged than I thought. 126,000 new jobs added is still infinitely better than when President Obama took office. Conservative apologists will never accept their major role in destroying the U.S. economy, in 2008. Did you even bother to wade through your source? The article and the Fox Business Report say that while the latest jobs report was disappointing, there are positive signs, in the economy. It looks as if States and businesses are following President Obama's lead and raising the minimum wage despite the Republican efforts, in Congress, to squash any bill to Federally raise it. You obviously don't even know what you're posting. According to the Fox Business Report they indicated that the unusually cold winter was partially responsible for the slow down in hiring and ultimately the economy. Learn to read.

JMHO Loc: Utah

Worst jobs report since Dec 2013, dumbass! It ceases to amaze me that you Kool Aid drinkers and Obama boot lickers will make any excuse for your hero Obama...facts and t***h be damned! 126,000 jobs created is dismal at best! We need 350,000 - 450,000 a month to get back to pre-Obama days! Get you head out of your ass!

Bruce Kennedy Loc: Kansas

Again you lack basic economic knowledge. Worst since Dec. 2013, so what? One month does not make a trend. But you apologists need to grab anything you can to try and make the current administration look bad. If the economy is falling off the cliff, as you suggest, then we have the Republicans to blame.

Antisocialist Loc: Florida

You can't be serious? O's**tstain has blown a few $ trillion on jobs programs and the Federal Reserve has printed and pumped more than $4.5 trillion into our economy in an effort to create jobs. When you spend that much money and get a pathetic jobs report like that, you have failed America.

We have seen 6 straight months of decline in Durable Goods orders.

We have seen 6 straight months of decline in factory Orders.

Wholesale trade has been declining while Inventories are up.

Retails Sales (where O'clueless has previously added jobs) has been in decline for 3 straight months now.

Libtards think the economy is 'sound' though. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

Update: I should have added that the US needs to create 250,000 new jobs every month just to pay for the new, and only new, interest being added the National Debt by Obama. We only recently began to hit that level, although they have revised the 2 previous months employment numbers downward as well.

By the time O'skidmark leaves office, we will need to be creating 400,000 new jobs every month just to pay for the new, and only new, interest Obama has added to the National debt every month. You Libtards are economic geniuses.

JMHO Loc: Utah

One month? How about seven years, dumbass! I'm surprised that you can even spell the word "economics." Get off the porn and do some REAL RESEARCH with that computer of yours, dumbass.