News
Pop the Cristal! The Recession is "Moderating!"
[caption id="attachment_9775" align="alignright" width="385" caption="Welcome to recession-free North Dakota. Buy one snowplow, get one free!"]
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According to MSNBC and Moody's today, 23 of 381 cities are experiencing a "moderating" recession, which means their economies are contracting at a much slower rate than the previous six months. Does this mean that Obama's recovery plans are working and we may soon move to full recovery mode? Not so fast. Existing problems remain around housing and credit problems—so many of these cities may loom in "moderating" recession mode for some time. Those folks who track these economic thingies seem to think Texas cities are in the best shape to pull out of recession and move into recovery fastest. Well, great. George W. Bush put us into this mess and his home state is the first to pull out of it. That seems fair.
The only place in the country not officially in recession: Bismarck, North Dakota.
This may be one more splinter of good news for an otherwise mixed economic news month for the Obama team. Not only are his polling numbers dipping to a (gasp) low level of 57%, the unemployment rate has topped 10% in 15 states. Additionally, many "shovel-ready" projects are not, in fact, ready because of the red tape bottlenecking them and delaying the creation of new jobs. And although the job-shedding numbers seem to be slowing, the rising unemployment rates spell trouble for the upcoming re-election prospects of Democratic Governors (looking at you, Michigan!)—those Governors most likely to tout the positive impacts of stimulus money.
On the plus side, some good news that the O-team can pimp around: Home construction permits rose in June , a sign that the housing market may be turning around and key indicator of recovery. Also, the Dow rose 7.3% this week, as a result of some of this good economic news. Some companies, particularly Citgroup, posted some surprising profits. I am not sure what all this means where the rubber hits the road, but I do think good news begets more good news.
Recession fun fact: The state with the lowest unemployment numbers: North Dakota at a stunning 4.2%. Pack up your covered wagons y'all! It's time to hoof it to that gold rush state of North Dakota. Yee-haw!
[/caption]According to MSNBC and Moody's today, 23 of 381 cities are experiencing a "moderating" recession, which means their economies are contracting at a much slower rate than the previous six months. Does this mean that Obama's recovery plans are working and we may soon move to full recovery mode? Not so fast. Existing problems remain around housing and credit problems—so many of these cities may loom in "moderating" recession mode for some time. Those folks who track these economic thingies seem to think Texas cities are in the best shape to pull out of recession and move into recovery fastest. Well, great. George W. Bush put us into this mess and his home state is the first to pull out of it. That seems fair.
The only place in the country not officially in recession: Bismarck, North Dakota.
This may be one more splinter of good news for an otherwise mixed economic news month for the Obama team. Not only are his polling numbers dipping to a (gasp) low level of 57%, the unemployment rate has topped 10% in 15 states. Additionally, many "shovel-ready" projects are not, in fact, ready because of the red tape bottlenecking them and delaying the creation of new jobs. And although the job-shedding numbers seem to be slowing, the rising unemployment rates spell trouble for the upcoming re-election prospects of Democratic Governors (looking at you, Michigan!)—those Governors most likely to tout the positive impacts of stimulus money.
On the plus side, some good news that the O-team can pimp around: Home construction permits rose in June , a sign that the housing market may be turning around and key indicator of recovery. Also, the Dow rose 7.3% this week, as a result of some of this good economic news. Some companies, particularly Citgroup, posted some surprising profits. I am not sure what all this means where the rubber hits the road, but I do think good news begets more good news.
Recession fun fact: The state with the lowest unemployment numbers: North Dakota at a stunning 4.2%. Pack up your covered wagons y'all! It's time to hoof it to that gold rush state of North Dakota. Yee-haw!
