Posted on 10/15/2015 9:16:50 AM PDT by Lorianne
The math is pretty simple: A lack of purchasing power for consumers has led to a lack of pricing power for companies.
When it comes to the U.S. economy big-picture outlook, the ramifications are more complicated, and not particularly pleasant.
Wednesday's producer price index reading, showing a monthly decline of 0.5 percent, demonstrates a larger problem: At a time when policymakers are hoping to generate the kind of inflation that would indicate strong growth, the reality is that deflation is looming as the larger threat. Declining prices often would be treated as a net positive by consumers, but income weakness is offsetting the effects.
Even Wall Street is feeling the heat. Prices for brokerage-related services and financial advice dropped 4.3 percent in September, accounting for about a quarter of the entire slide for final demand services.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
USA population is currently 318.9 million so 319 ... officially. Not all of that number are of working age.
According to this source there are 203 million working age persons (people between the ages of 15-64).
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LFWA64TTUSM647S
Of course not all of those of working age want a paid job at a given time. Many are full time caregivers of their children or elderly parents, many are teenagers or young adults in college and some number are disabled, some do unpaid volunteer work, etc. On the flip side, many people are working past age 64 so maybe it evens out.
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So, based on those numbers, let’s say a full 25% of those on the bench don’t want to work, and we cheat and use the TOTAL population as our denominator. It’s 24% unemployed.
If we are honest, but say HALF of those on the bench don’t want to work, it’s 25% (50M/203M).
THE FLOOR number - the conservative number for unemployment - all five fingers on the scale - is 25%.
Actual figure is probably 37% (75M/203M).
KEEP IN MIND this does NOT include underemployment, at all.
There’s where your ‘even out’ factor would likely apply. Those underemployed probably offset the ones retired, students in school (how many of those students are on work study or are holding down a part time job to pay the expenses?).
Trump said he saw numbers that indicated the number could be as high as 40%. It could be as high as 55% if you factor in underemployment.
Sorry, but they used to kill horse thieves. What do you to right the wrongs committed by this President and this Congress?
your
hanks to the legislature, even eggs as protein is out due to $6/doz eggs.
We have chickens .... beautiful brown eggs, unless molting, which some are doing now :-(
“Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs.” – Rep. Nancy Pelosi on a nation with 307 million people
You’ve got to count all 57 states.
It is high. It’s benefit of the doubt high. At that number, unemployment is actually between 25% and 29%.
At 203M? Obama better get on his knees and worship the CEO of Walmart for hiding his breadlines for him.
Winners: the Corp bottom line and stock holder dividends. Losers: Employees laid off, consumers see quality suffer, taxpayer on the hook for social service.
You can't call all 100 million lazy asses, there is a lot of blame to go around.
I am so screwed.
I bought coffee two days ago - 30.5 oz container (I checked after reading your post!) for just under $7. I get a generic brand .... just need enough to help wake up in the a.m. so I’m no ‘gourmet’. What I usually buy was not on the shelf ... hmmmm, wonder if it’s because the next shipment will be a smaller size?
Oh I agree. The official number of unemployed is way off by at least 20%, probably more.
And if you add in all those who are part time who want a full time job the numbers are off the scale.
But there are also a lot of people who have decided to ‘go to ground’ and stay at home taking care of things there and doing some work under the table. Or people doing yard work, taking care of elderly neighbors, childcare off the books, making handicrafts to sell, re-selling stuff on Ebay or similar operations, running informal B&Bs, becoming Uber drivers (or even more informally providing driving or errand services) etc.
Lots of ways to ‘work’ without being counted.
NO SALE!!
We went Galt years ago.
As much as humanely possible, we refuse to buy or contribute money to the corrupt deviates running government who line their pockets and retirement pensions with my tax dollars.
I’ve noticed this happening with a lot of food items.
It’s called SHRINK-FLATION.
Declining prices often would be treated as a net positive by consumers, but income weakness is offsetting the effects.
Prices that decline but continue to decline are a negative in terms of the overall economy. Sure the item that cost $10 last week is selling for $8 this week and that’s an incentive to buy. But the real problem is that that same item will be expected to cost $6 or $5 next week. So that’s a very strong incentive not to buy. Might as well wait.
They cooked the books and lied to each other since at least 2010, congratulating each other how they pulled us back from the brink. Yep...turning the corner...getting stronger,,,why look at the unemployment number DROP!
Now the numbers are too hard to hide and ignore.
And they act surprised for you.
This is not going to end well at all.
The biggest purchase on the horizon for us is a new recliner and we will spend a bit on it. Probably a La-Z-Boy. My dad bought one from the place I used to work in 1985 he is still using it and though it is frayed a bit on the edges everything works fine.
The only reason we are buying it is my old recliner is dying. My Mom and Dad bought it for me several BDays ago but it just didn't hold up. Man it is comfortable and big but just not built well. Other than that we just don't "buy things" much anymore. When we need a new computer we search for deals; you can get some really good laptops cheap if you are willing to do a little internet searching. I build any desktops we need and get all the parts at greatly reduced prices using all sorts of buying tricks like rebates and coupons and cashback deals etc.
We just save cash and are paying off some business debt but we refuse to spend money just to get the latest and greatest geegaws. One of our friends rushed out to get the latest iPhone after they just purchased a new one less than a year ago. They filed bankruptcy three years ago and are going right back into debt with new credit cards and leasing cars etc. It boggles my mind that retailers and credit card companies allow people like that to get even more credit after filing bankruptcy but I guess it's the way things are now.
Not calling the 100M lazy. No way.
We can, and have, approached frictional unemployment. Less than 10M working age people not employed. We’ve been there.
We are at ten times that number. That’s called an economic DEPRESSION.
I don’t trust any economic number coming out of DC anymore. It doesn’t gibe with anything I’m encountering across the economy right now.
The WSJ today was amazing. There was literally no good economic news in it. Even in the whitewashed stories they were pimping. Their reporting has really tanked in the last three years too.
There is a difference between price increase for specific products or services and inflation. We are at great danger of over deflating at this point. The nickel dime economic weasels who have been saying we suffer from inflation are simply wrong.
It is to the point that some of the "full size" items are getting close to those mini "travel size" items they used to sell.
then 'not going to the movies...
now it's moved to 'not going to the mall'...
Democrats and their liberal elite backers on Wall Street are clueless about what they're doing to this country... and how we're all reacting to the formation of the elitist hellhole.
My guess is the drop in prices is due to lower energy costs, not deflation.
Deflation: Prices and wages continue to drop.
I predict we are headed for a deflationary depression.
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