Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicate that overall economic activity continued to expand in September, although many Districts described the pace of growth as "modest" or "slight" and contacts generally noted weaker or less certain outlooks for business conditions. The reports suggest that consumer spending was up slightly in most Districts, with auto sales and tourism leading the way in several of them. Business spending increased somewhat, particularly for construction and mining equipment and auto dealer inventories, but many Districts noted restraint in hiring and capital spending plans. By sector, manufacturing and transportation activity was reported to have increased on balance. A few Districts also reported slight improvements in construction and real estate activity; nonetheless, overall conditions for both residential and commercial real estate remained weak. Districts reporting on nonfinancial services cited mixed results with activity varying widely by industry. Loan demand by and large moved lower, with the exception of an increase in mortgage refinancing in many Districts. Crop conditions at harvest were generally less favorable than a year ago. In contrast, energy and mining activity continued to strengthen in several Districts, with the exception of some storm-related slowdowns in the Gulf of Mexico. Cost pressures eased in the majority of Districts, though there was some further pass-through of earlier increases to downstream prices. Wage pressures remained subdued outside of a few exceptions in which firms noted having difficulty finding appropriately skilled workers.
The overall trend is for below trend growth; growth was "modest" and business spending was up slightly. Although still in terrible shape, there was a slight uptick in real estate. Loan activity dropped, which jibes with the statement that the business outlook is mixed. In short, we're probably in a period of 0%-2% growth.
3 comments:
"firms noted having difficulty finding appropriately skilled workers"
THEN TRAIN THEM YOU DOLTS!! And if you're concerned about losing talent investment to high turnover, here's a news flash for you: Happy workers don't move around as much.
It's not like there's a labor shortage out there. Given they never do a damn thing about this problem except whine and whine, I can't take this argument seriously.
Meanwhile some unemployed people are told they are "overqualified" for everything, especially if they happen to be over 45. There are a lot of baby boomers in the multi-year gap between the final unemployment check and social security.
Given that social security benefits are calculated on the wages of the final 35 years, all those empty years will reduce benefits for the largest population group ever. Voila--Social Security "problem" solved.
No wonder my annual social security statement keeps increasing the percentage of benefits we are projected to receive.
"Given that social security benefits are calculated on the wages of the final 35 years, all those empty years will reduce benefits for the largest population group ever. Voila--Social Security "problem" solved."
Oooooo! Anonymous 10:23AM, that's a fascinating thesis that I've never heard before. I'm gonna hafta give that one some thought. What WILL the very-long-term effects of reduced earnings be to Boomer's Social Security payments and, therefore, to the 75-year solvency of the whole system? If Social Security is paying out a lot less to Boomers than expected, maybe we no longer have any solvency problems at all? Hmmmmmm.
And Dragonchild, employers don't wanna train their own workers -- they want taxpayers to do that for them. In other words, they want them some Greek-sytle Corporate Welfare before they hire anyone off the streets.
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