Essay on Main Economic Forecasts

The unemployment rate has dramatically increased over the last several months. This increase has created many complications for the American people. Although the United States economy has created over 7 million jobs, there is still a long way to go until the economy is back on track.

The largest cause of unemployment can be attributed to recession. The term recession refers to the backward movement of the economy for a long period. People spend only when they have to. (Nagle 2009). With people spending less there would be less money in circulation therefore, enterprises would suffer financially and people would suffer too. This is so because recession reduces the fiscal bases of enterprises, forcing these enterprises to reduce their workforce through layoffs. These enterprises lay off their workers in order to cut the costs they incur in terms of wage and salary payments.

Beginning with unemployment in the 2007-2009 recession, U.S. unemployment rates peaked at 10% as well as held 41 consecutive months at rates higher than eight percent (Lazear 1). The U.S. economy plummeted during this time; many attributed the shift to a large decrease in the number of employed workers. To be able to better understand the unemployment issue, we must first examine the form of unemployment faced by the U.S. economy. Many believe that the changes faced by the U.S. labor market

From what is supposedly being shown in papers and on the news the U.S. economy is currently concerned about unemployment, caused by the recession. This “current macroeconomic situation” is pardoning my language freaking a lot of individuals out, because some have no idea of how it is going to get better. The news/media is not painting us such a pretty picture of it, by calling it “this decade’s depression”. The unemployment rate is at 8.2% as of July 2012, whereas the average in 1948 was at 5.6%.

If unemployment rate lowered, that means that the job market would increase. An increase in the job market would vastly increase the overall GDP of an economy (Doc 1). With the economy handing out pink slips and firing employees, a boost in employment would lead to an economic expansion (Doc 3). An economic expansion would go so far as to slow

In fact, much of the recent reduction in the deficit is due to the decline in unemployment” (p. 1). With record high deficits within the last years the idea of the government spending to spur the economy that ultimately would help reduce the unemployment level seems near impossible without further affecting the deficit rather than helping reduce it.

While there are expectations of a yearly gain of nearly 2.3 million net new jobs, the unemployment rate is still very high i.e. around 6.5 percent. The lower-than-expected job growth is fueled by various factors including government hiring, weather, and Obamacare. Actually, similar to December, January had a lower-than expected increase in job opportunities since only 113,000 jobs were created. However, the rate of unemployment still reduced to 6.6 percent in this month despite of the growth in labor force. The current rate of unemployment is the lowest in U.S. since the 2008 recession because more people are leaving the labor force instead of finding jobs.

           One could argue the American unemployment has taken a negative turn. The ideal unemployment rate is 3-4 percent, according to Bloomberg article, Why Not Target a 3% Unemployment Rate and the United States’ current unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is at 4.5 percent.  However, this is a big drop in unemployment from the past few years and a .4 percent drop just since February. Though the unemployment rate is not perfect, it does seem to be improving. The wage growth/personal income not increasing may be a serious problem. However, according to Kevin Hassett, Trump’s nomination for Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, a rise in the minimum wage could harm the economy, as stated by Bloomberg article, Trump Names Hassett to Head Council of Economic Advisors. Investors have been prompted to begin buying and investing in the market. However, according to USA Today article, Stocks shake off U.S. strike on Syria, jobs miss to end turbulent week a tad lower, as well as Bloomberg article, Dollar Rises, Treasuries Retreat as Stocks Slip: Markets Wrap, America’s stocks had some losses after the

As mentioned, the U.S. economy has seen a positive shift in the last few years. According to Janet Yellen (the Chairman of the Fed), "the private sector has created 7.8 million jobs since the post-crisis low for employment in 2010." Additionally, housing seems to have turned a corner in which construction, home prices are all up significantly, and as I mentioned earlier, housing was a large sector that was impacted during the Great Recession and the loss was staggering ("The U.S. Economy"). Another area that we are seeing tremendous growth is within the auto industry. The auto industry has made an incredible comeback with domestic production and sales back to near pre Great Recession levels. Our economy today is showing the unemployment levels down from a peak of ten percent, and has reached the point of full employment once again. According to Jared Bernstein of the New York Times, "Last month the national unemployment rate fell from 5.9 to 5.8 percent" thus showing that we are back to full employment according to what I have been taught in class, though I am finding some dispute over what numbers should be considered full employment. Nevertheless, our economy is showing a real growth in helping fellow Americans get back to work. In addition to unemployment decreasing we are also seeing a decrease in inflation. According

source of income. As time goes on, the unemployment rate should lower, but the initial spike in unemployment could hurt many families and lives.

Strother made a special point throughout the class to ask this questions way to many times, but it stuck in everyone’s head and I’m sure it is in everyone’s nightmares. As the World Bank shows, in 2007 when the great recession hit, the unemployment rate in 2007 when the recession started it was at 5.0 percent, in June of 2009 it rose to 9.5 percent. As the inflation rate was at 2.08% in 2007 and by 2009 it was at 0.03%. During the great recession, the unemployment rate was by far the scariest number I ran across. With all those Americans out of work it lead to the United States to go into the one of the largest budget deficits ever. The United States hit the all time low with numerous amounts of money being spent by the government but no money being spent by the citizens, which was the beginning of the huge debt we are in now and trying to get out

In 4-5 paragraphs, discuss the history of the US economy including productivity, growth, markets and government regulations.

Many people know that the U.S job market has always been inconsistent, and has it’s good years and bad years. Many may ask how is it even possible for an abundance of Americans to be unemployed, when a great amount of them followed the American Dream and worked hard in school and earned their degree, and some even risked being in debt so they could follow the American Dream and get their college degree. Unemployment always rises during recessions and usually, but not always falls during periods of economic expansion. For those who may not know the definition of recessions and expansions, as Dr. Econ stated “A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in

The United States is currently experiencing a slow recovery from the recession of 2008-09. The current unemployment rate is 7.7%, which is the lowest level since December of 2008 (BLS, 2012). However, this rate is believed to higher than the rate that would occur if the economy was operating at peak efficiency, and it is also believed that there are structural issues still underpinning this performance. For example, the number of Americans who have exited the work force as the result of prolonged unemployment is believed to be higher than usual. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2012) notes that long-term unemployment of greater than 26 weeks is at a much higher rate than normal, which will have adverse long-run effects on the economy, since workers with long-term unemployment often find their career paths derailed.

remain subdued, and the unemployment rate is probably to rise to a higher level in a