Monday, August 20, 2012

Is recession over (yes/no/maybe)?

The IIPM Think Tank analyses the five largest economies (excl. China) – US, Japan, Germany, France, UK

President Barack Obama recently applauded a government report that indicated the American economy’s rise by 3.2% in the first quarter this year, saying, “This means that our economy as a whole is in a much better place than it was a year ago”. It was the third straight quarterly expansion, even though it was weaker than the 5.6% gain in Q4 2009.

The US Commerce Department confirmed spending rose by 0.6% in March 2010, after a revised 0.5% rise in February. In March, spending adjusted for inflation increased by 0.5% after a similar gain in February. Personal income grew by 0.3% following a 0.1% rise in the month prior, whereas real disposable income expanded by 0.2%. In the spate of increased spending, savings fell at an annual rate of $303.9 billion, the lowest since September 2008. In the 12 months ending March 2010, personal consumption expenditure price index excluding food and energy rose by 1.3%. Thomson Reuters’ Small Business Lending Index (measuring overall level of financing) specified a rise of 4% in March, the highest since October 2007.

The US Labor Department’s monthly snapshot showed US has added jobs for 4 consecutive months, peaking at 290,000 jobs in April, highest in the last 4 years! A contradictory report shows that the unemployment rate has crawled up to 9.9% from 9.7% in March. But there’s a valid reason – the new found confidence has led to a significant increase in the number of people looking for jobs again, who had previously given up. As per government figures, 195,000 returned to work force this year in April. Average work-week was inching to 34.1 hours and hourly wages were also up by 1 cent in April.


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,