Posted on 12/08/2005 4:57:28 PM PST by RWR8189
Trying to pick a fight with other Freepers? There are plenty of naysaying, sky-is-falling people out there who are not Freepers, who you could easily go pick a fight with.
The article was BRAGGING about a growth rate of 2.3%, I believe.
I'm sure there are many examples of the New Yorker praising W to the skies for HIS economy. I await the flood of FReepers correcting my erroneous position that the liberal press are not giving W a fair shake with the economy. Uh huh.
Economy shows muscle in two reports
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories posted a solid increase in October while worker productivity jumped by the largest amount in two years, the government said Tuesday.
It was the latest evidence that the economy is rebounding from the Gulf Coast hurricanes and a spike in energy prices, leading analysts to predict the economy will turn in a solid performance in coming months.
"The momentum of growth has been very strong," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. "This suggests that growth in the fourth quarter of this year and early next year will remain robust."
The Commerce Department said demand for manufactured goods rose by 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted $399.8 billion in October, erasing a 1.4 percent September decline when demand was jolted by the hurricanes, a strike at aircraft giant Boeing and a jump in energy costs.
The October increase was in line with economists' expectations. Orders for durable goods, items expected to last three or more years, increased by 3.7 percent while demand for nondurable goods rose by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the productivity of American workers shot up at an annual rate of 4.7 percent in the July-September quarter, the best showing in two years. The new figure was revised upward from an initial estimate of 4.1 percent growth in productivity.
The big jump in worker efficiency helped to push labor costs down by 1 percent at an annual rate in third quarter, double the 0.5 percent drop in unit labor costs that had originally been reported. The stronger productivity and falling labor costs should help ease fears at the Federal Reserve that overall inflation was on the verge of worsening because of rising wage pressures.
The 2.2 percent overall rise in durable goods was the best showing since a 2.9 percent jump in August. It showed that manufacturing, which was the hardest hit sector in the recession of 2001, is showing resilience in the face of rising energy costs and the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which caused widespread destruction along the Gulf Coast.
The 3.7 percent gain in orders for durable goods was even better than an initial estimate of a 3.4 percent increase made last week. Productivity is the key factor that determines whether living standards are improving. Gains in productivity allow companies to pay their workers higher salaries from their increased production without having to increase the price of the products they sell, which would fuel inflation.
The gain was led by a 142 percent rise in orders for military aircraft and parts and a 50.6 percent jump in orders for commercial aircraft.
The 4.7 percent rate of increase for productivity in the third quarter was sharply higher than the 2.1 percent increase for the April-June quarter. It was the best showing since a 9.6 percent surge in the third quarter of 2003.
The 1 percent drop in unit labor costs marked the second consecutive quarter that labor costs have fallen after three quarters of big increases that had raised worries that wage pressures were beginning to mount. Unit labor costs declined at a 1.2 percent rate in the second quarter.
The upward revision in productivity reflected the fact that the government last week revised upward overall economic growth for the third quarter to an annual rate of 4.3 percent. It had originally estimated that the gross domestic product was growing at a 3.8 percent rate in the third quarter.
The increased amount of output meant that workers had produced more per hour of work than originally estimated.
Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
In the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D. A.
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows
Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You're gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles
-ccm
What is this?
What the hell is that?
Subterranean Homesick Blues, I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that...
ROFL........that's the best thing I've seen in the last six months!
New York Times on economy: All the gloom that's fit to print
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/columnists/joe_soucheray/13345109.htm
Sorry, we're not into the contemporary RAP, punk rock "music." We're retired country folks, living in Western NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Bob Dylan is "contemporary RAP, punk rock "music."???
I don't dig men. If I did I would work in a grave-yard.
Series, the lyrics talk about the worst of civilization, drugs, with cops and badges. The last time I saw an LEO was when our local sheriff picked up our local newspaper and brought it up to our front porch and we gave him a cup of coffee and a slice of buttered toast with rapberry jam.
Folks in the western Blue Ridge Mountains, NC are very different from those in CA.
No one I know ever liked Dylan. He always sounded like a hippie who swallowed a gallon of Drano for mouthwash.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.