We read a couple articles this week regarding the economy... Depending on whether you're a half-full or half-empty type, there's plenty of ways to interpret the info...
First, the major news is that the American economy has had slow precipitous job growth - close to 1 million jobs were created since unemployment peaked in February. Yeah, that's the good news, and that about as good as it will get. In a case of one step forward, two steps back, the economy is definitely still sputtering...
What do we mean? Well, while there are 1 million more jobs, there are almost that many more people in the US population. It's a wash - hence, that's why the unemployment rate has only dropped to 9.8%, along with those rejoining the job searching legions. Also, many top US companies are turning tidy profits, but not quite pulling the trigger on hiring just yet - at least not in the US. Yeah, they've hired 1 million back in the US, but overseas, those companies have hired 1.4 million..... Let that sink in for a moment. 40% more.
Now, there are obvious reasons why: labor is cheaper overseas, restrictions are more lax, etc. However, when all but 4 of the Fortune 500 companies were in the black this past year, it does make a worker get kind of discouraged... We remain hopeful that business cannot 'do more with less' for long. They HAVE to hire eventually.. Also, we like to see a slow, sustained growth anyway, which this technically is.
Granted, a job growth rate of double than that would be ideal, where things get better, without causing inflation to go haywire. Still, we can't blame Americans for being discouraged a bit. When you just start having hope, but get shut out again, it gets frustrating. We have the same problem with women... We'll continue to be a cheerleader for America's comeback - but we might be doing it for a while....
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