Posted on 08/24/2007 11:22:23 AM PDT by Hydroshock
Subprime-battered mortgage lenders are shutting down, fewer homes are being built, and even some of the big U.S. retailers are planning conservatively for Christmas holiday sales.
It will take a few months to show up in the economic data that Wall Street and the Federal Reserve watch, but the slowing U.S. economy is hitting the job market, and economists say it is only a matter of time before unemployment ticks up.
"Growth is skimming along at around 2 percent, and that is not strong enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising," said Brian Bethune, U.S. economist with Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Jobs mean paychecks, paychecks mean spending, and consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so employment remains the linchpin as the United States grapples with a housing downturn that has triggered a broader tightening of credit terms.
The August employment report, due on Sept. 7, will be closely scrutinized for signs of weakness, although September and October may show the biggest hits as the recent string of job cuts filter through from the likes of Bear Stearns, Countrywide Financial and Capital One Financial.
Yeah, it does seem like this guy is post a lot of economic pessimism. Like it’s work for him.
Vultures don’t want a healthy American economy, they want carrion.
I like how the popular keyword now includes ‘despair’...lol
Seriously, does anyone think it’s that bad, now?
Some believe it's that bad (Tom Joads), others want US to believe it's that bad (vultures). Pretty sickening for a website that pursues Reagan conservatism.
If you think that's rushing the Season, around here they've already started the After Christmas Clearance Sales................. ;-)
Well done.
As in all the Holiday seasons as far back as I can remember, the Lame Stream Media will predict doom and gloom and in the end the numbers will go up about 5-10% over the previous year.
No, they wouldn’t consciously refi their homes to go Christmas shopping, but they might refi after they found they had insurmountable credit card debt.
I didn’t add those, someone else did.
I did not claim you added them. But I DO love them.
What makes you think I am a vulture? I am not.
This doesn’t jibe too well with the other stories of employers being unable to find workers at any price. Could somebody in the MSM be lying?
I wwould venture to guess the probability of what you say is extremely low.
You never heard of people doing a cash-out refi to pay off their ridiculous credit card spending debts?
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