U.S. Economy Still Struggles

Last Friday’s release by the Labor Department reaffirmed what most Americans already knew; the economy is still struggling.

The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.6%; the lowest level since October 2008, which in a normal economy would be a good thing.

Unfortunately, we are not in normal times. The main reason unemployment has dropped from its peak high of 10%, is the labor participation rate is at its lowest level since1978.  Unprecedented that unemployment dropped not because individuals found work, but because they stopped looking.

President Obama stated during Saturday’s weekly radio address, “I ran for President to restore that idea, and I’m even more passionate about it today.  Because while our economy has been growing for four years, and those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged.  Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone get ahead – and that’s been true since long before the recession hit.”

He continued to state, “We’ve got to reverse those trends.  We’ve got to build an economy that works for everyone, not just a fortunate few.  And the opportunity agenda I laid out last week will help us do that.”

The president reiterated the way to fix the problems he outlined, “It’s an agenda with four parts.  Number one: more new jobs.  Number two: training folks with the skills to fill those jobs.  Number three: guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.  And number four: making sure that hard work pays off, with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health insurance that’s there when you need it.”   

Creation of new jobs has been missing and only more individuals leaving who are unable to find work.  Even the Congressional Budget Office stated last Tuesday the president’s signature issue, health care reform, will have a negative effect on job creation.   

The federal government currently has 47 job training programs spread over nine agencies, but has anyone measured the effectiveness or performance of these programs?  Why are we not training the long-term unemployed into skills that will translate into viable employment?

Quality education is a notable goal but the president has the opportunity to send his children to private school; the masses have to go to the under-performing public school systems.  Even before he became president his children attend a very prestigious private school in Chicago.

The president is correct that the very top one percent is doing better than the rest but polices by the president and the Federal Reserve have increased this disparity.

For the past few years the Federal Reserve has spent over a trillion dollars a year in its federal bond buying policy trying to stimulate the U.S. economy.  Recently is has slowly begun to taper off but only slightly, and even with this buy back program it has helped Wall Street instead of Main Street. 

The nation will continue to face economic head winds as the country moves forward with the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  Once employers begin complying with the employer mandate you will see more volatility with employment.

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