Personal incomes rose less than expected and jobless claims surprised analysts with a surge on Wednesday, as growing optimism met with sobering data.
Weekly unemployment claims rose to 313,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, up over 7% from the prior week. The 4-week moving average for claims rose 2% to 294,000. The rise in claims was far above economists’ expectations of a fall in total claims to 286,000.
The South Korean President, Mr. Park Geun-Hye, warned that his country’s economy could be at risk of falling into serious long-term stagnation. As a result, he has urged that parliament act quickly when it comes to dealing with economic bills.
The economy is actually worse considering they are able to defray some of their self-defense costs to America as the U.S. spends billions of dollars every year protecting South Korea. Many people in the U.S. wonder how long that will continue.
Despite a strong rise in GDP growth, above expectations, U.S. stocks saw mixed performance on Tuesday as investors mulled the chances of an interest rate hike amidst broader economic growth.
Economic growth moderated in the U.S. in October even as confidence in growth reached a post-crisis high, new data from the Federal Reserve shows.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell 15 basis points to 0.14 in October. Productivity fell as the CFNAI production indicator fell to -0.01 from +0.18 in September, indicating that total economic production was slowing. Manufacturing remained strong despite the fall in production elsewhere in the economy, seeing a 0.2% rise in productivity for the second month in a row.
California’s economy is in major trouble. Even though the state’s budget, after a number of years of multi-billion dollar deficits, is currently in a surplus, there are a number of problems ravaging the state and stifling business. Unfortunately, every problem revolves around the state legislature having an enormous desire to tax their wealthy citizens (as if that will change anything!) and a lack of understanding current business trends.
At the close of September this year, the central bank in Brazil lowered its prediction for the annual growth of the country’s economy from 1.6% down to a disappointing 0.7%. Such a low expectation for growth sets Brazil firmly behind many other Latin American countries, except for Venezuela (which is corrupt and socialist) and Argentina. For example, this year:
* Columbia should see growth of 4.7%
* Mexico expects to grow at 2.7%
As disinflation and deflation threatens growth rates in emerging markets and the European Union, central banks have hinted that their monetary policy will become more accommodative in the coming months.
From China to the European Central Bank, policymakers are cutting growth rates and mulling lowering interest rates and expanding monetary bases in an attempt to get credit to flow more freely around the world.
California has been having issues with its economy for some time now. High taxes and ridiculous regulations have been affecting the locations’ ability for growth, leaving it in the dust. When asked how regulations were affecting operations, the president of California Custom Fruits and Flowers said that:
* The workers compensation insurance has gone up by 300% in the last five years.
* High taxes and tough environmental laws have made day-to-day operations impossible to navigate.
Low inflation and exposure to weakening global markets is causing concern in the Federal Reserve, while a fall into recession in Japan is causing greater anxiety throughout Asia.
Job growth in the United States saw a steady growth during October, and the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in six years. Economists have suggested that these factors highlight the resilience of the American economy in the face of slowing global demand and a socialist American President whose party just voted down a jobs bill called the Keystone Pipeline.
