Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Economic slowdown?

I caught this story on CNN and it seemed worth elaborating on.  The story notes that two Federal Reserve Presidents are concerned that the recovery, already slow, may be slowing further.  The primary indicator of this is that GDP only grew 2.2% in the 1st quarter of 2012, compared to 3% in the last quarter of 2011.  The two men also noted that there are at least two potentially significant worries that the economy faces down the road: ongoing European debt issues and rising gas prices.  Both have cooled, at least for now, but could flare up again and damage our economic recovery.

There are also initial concerns that the job market is slowing as well.  For the second straight month, private job  growth dipped.  In April, the private sector only added 119,000 jobs, compared to 201 jobs in March and 228 jobs in February.  The same happened in the Valley, with a recent jobs report noting that the area lost 3,200 jobs - despite unemployment dropping to 7.9% from 8.1%.  The big report is expected this Friday, however, when the April unemployment numbers are expected to be released.

All indicators are preliminary, but its enough to get people worried.  What do you think?  Are you worried about the economy slowing down again, and is it something that you have noticed?  Let us know in the comments!
Article any source

No comments:

Post a Comment