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Economic News
Annika Schmidt
"UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS, BUT FOR THE WRONG REASONS"
In this article, it explained that April is the strongest month for job growth adding 288,000 jobs to the economy. Since then, the participation has dropped. Statistics say, it could be from not as many young people entering the job market for the first time, and more seniors are retiring, causing more people to be unemployed. With all the jobs lost in the financial crisis, solid hiring is still not enough to lead the Americans back to work right away. Long term unemployment remains elevated with 3.5 million people jobless for six months or more.
"WITH COSTLY BANANAS, APPLES, AND GRAPES, ORANGES BECOME FAVORITE FRUIT THIS SEASON"
With the prices of bananas, apples, and grapes rising, a demand for oranges is coming from other countries. Banana plantations were damaged which caused a shortage and a rise in prices for bananas. The supply for oranges have gone up and the prices are lower, therefore, more people buy oranges. There is not as much supply of bananas, apples, or grapes, therefore the prices are higher, and people do not want to buy them, because of the high prices. With all this happening, they are waiting for the demand to go up.
"CHEAPER OIL: BOTH SYMPTOM AND BALM"
Oil had been declining gradually for three months, causing oil prices to tumble. Normally, falling oil prices would boost the global growth, but not in this case. The big question is whether lower prices reflect weak demand of have been caused by a surge in the supply of oil. They think that the oil price is a symptom of weakening growth. With that, in some other countries, cheaper oil would make things worse because it would increase the risk of deflation. But, if the supply is making prices go down, then the cheaper oil would boost the global growth.
"U.S. CONSUMER PRICES BARELY RISE AS INFLATION REMAINS MUTED"
The article says consumer prices have risen slightly in the United States recently. With this, inflation is low and the Federal Reserve is able to keep interest rates low for quite some time. Since then, the Consumer Price Index of the Labor Department has gone up 0.1 percent in a month as a rise in food and shelter costs. The next month, it dropped 0.2 percent and economists were expecting a flat result for the following month. Underlying inflation pressures were muted because of increases in shelter and medical care costs.
"IT WAS A GOOD SUMMER FOR THE ECONOMY, BUT THE FUTURE LOOKS LESS BRIGHT"
This article says, the overall gross domestic rate (GDP) came in at 3.5% for the annual rate. Which was better than the 3% that the analysts predicted. This is the strongest result from over the years. The second half of this year would be a 4.6 GDP. These numbers will obviously change over the years but July-September was making unmistakable progress in the right direction. Statistics show that there is a deal of untapped potential in the economy. Unless private sources of demand start growing faster than they did in the summer, it probably won't close anytime in the near future.
"TRADE, DEFENSE BUOY U.S. ECONOMY, BUT SOME WEAKNESS CREEPS IN"
In this article, it talks about how a smaller trade deficit and surge in defense spending buoyed the United States economic growth during the third quarter. Domestic demand slipped leading to loss of momentum. The Commerce Department says the GDP grew 3.5% over the year although the pace housing and consumer spending and growth in business investment decreased after the second quarter. The fourth quarter expanded above a 3.5 percent clip. A narrowing trading gap explains for adding 1.32 percentage points to GDP last quarter. Government spending also added 0.66 percentage points to the GDP. Imports decreased the most they ever have since 2012 due to lack of demand for overseas oil. Export growth remained strong. Growth in business investments have slowed, but declining gasoline prices and accelerating job growth should get the growth back on track.
"WHY THE PRICE OF FILLING UP HAS BEEN GOING DOWN"
This article tells how gasoline prices have been the lowest it has been for four years this September and the prices are supposed to keep falling through the end of the year. After the summer season, the demand is less and prices go down after Labor Day. The refiners put cheaper oils in the gasoline since the weather is warmer, when it starts getting colder, they start using the more expensive oils because of the colder weather. U.S. oil production is a huge explanation on why gas prices have gone down. The U.S. is oversupplied because crude is is available and cheap. And it is just going to continue to become more available and more cheap than it is now. Supply has increased, demand has decreased. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said that will consume 2 billion more gallons of gasoline this year. Although demand is weak, the economy is starting to get better. Demand is lower because there are more fuel-efficient cars being produced and used everyday. Since the demand is so low, and the supply is so high, prices will continue to be low.
"WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT HITS HARDEST"
This article tells how the government doesn't calculate the unemployment rate rate by counting how many people receive unemployment benefits. They calculate it each month based on interview in 60,000 households that are representative of the United States population as a whole. No household stays in the survey for more than two years, they switch it up. Statistics show that men and women are pretty equal on likeliness to be unemployed. Race plays a role in unemployment. African Americans hold the highest rate for unemployment. The unemployment rate differs depending where you live. It is highest in the western and southern states. A lot of factors have a role in the unemployment rate in the United States.