Northwest Indiana Discussion

Obamanomics: Consumer Confidence “Unexpectedly” Plummets In January

Doesn't have the slightest clue how to improve the economy, just arrogance.

(Bloomberg) — Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly dropped in January as gasoline prices picked up and more Americans said jobs were hard to get.

The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to 61.1 from a revised 64.8 reading in the prior month, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise to 68. The figure was lower than the most pessimistic projection.

Job growth has fallen short of the pace required to drive bigger gains in wages, at the same time higher fuel costs threaten to strain household budgets and limit spending. The report showed fewer Americans expect their incomes to increase in the next six months, and they pared plans to purchase cars and homes.

Sentiment data indicate “just how fragile households believe the economic expansion is,” Steven Wood, president of Insight Economics LLC in Danville, California, said before the report. It is “largely the result of ongoing weakness in the labor and housing markets as well as the political bickering in Washington and on the campaign trail.”

or,..... as the useful idiots see and hear it

Unemployment rate falls to 8.3 percent in January after hiring burst

1.2 million.

a '' NEW RECORD''

Obama Peddles BS Unemployment Report, Says “Recovery Is Speeding Up” – Then Blames Bush Anyway

President Obama saluted “more good news about our economy” today, and made an election-year argument that “we can’t go back to the policies that led to the recession.”

Obama spoke at an Arlington, Va., fire house just hours after the Labor Department reported that the economy added 243,000 new jobs in January, and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%.

While “these numbers will go up and down” in the coming months, Obama told firefighters that “the economy is growing stronger — the recovery is speeding up.”

To that end, Obama urged Congress to extend the payroll tax cut that expires at the end of February, and not let the issue get bogged down in politics.

“Don’t muck it up,” Obama said to Congress.

Welcome To The Recovery: 85% of Small Businesses Not Hiring

Gallup: “U.S. small-business owners who aren’t hiring — 85% of those surveyed — are most likely to say the reasons they are not doing so include not needing additional employees; worries about weak business conditions, including revenues; cash flow; and the overall U.S. economy. Additionally, nearly half of small-business owners point to potential healthcare costs (48%) and government regulations (46%) as reasons. One in four are not hiring because they worry they may not be in business in 12 months.”