Fed Says Economy Continuing to Expand

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=716&e=3&u=/ap/20040303/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

<snip>
WASHINGTON - Factories hummed and consumers kept cash registers busy in the first two months of this year, fresh evidence that the economic recovery is moving ahead, according to a Federal Reserve (news - web sites) report released Wednesday.

"Economic activity continued to expand in January and February," the Fed said in its latest survey of business conditions around the country. However, on the jobs front, "employment has been growing slowly in most Federal Reserve districts," the report said.

Factory activity rose in 11 of the 12 regional Fed districts, good news for America's manufacturers, who were hardest hit by the 2001 recession and have struggled mightily to get back on firm footing. In the Fed's Cleveland region factory activity didn't go up, but rather held steady, the Fed survey said.

Consumer spending on general merchandise rose in most of the Fed's regions except for St. Louis, which reported a slight decline.

[metisnation]

1. nose

the only thing expanding is the length of George's nose.

[mac2]

6. and the size of his families bank account.

[Tempest]

2. Despite all this positive economic news...

The economy still shed 77,000 jobs in the first two months.

It's a jobless recovery.

[Zero Gravitas]

8. A "Job-loss" recovery

as one of the guests on Charlie Rose last night put it. The economy can expand all it wants and the rich can get richer but it will not help War-President Bush unless jobs are generated and people can begin to feel economically secure again.

People are starting to stop believing that "what is good for Wall Street is good for Main Street" because now it appears what is good for Wall Street is to sell main Street out. The IT industry thinks it will add many new jobs this year because of the improving economy, unfortunately none of those jobs will be in the US.

[Robin Hood]

9. If it's jobless, how can it be a recovery?

?

[Tempest]

12. Because Bush and his rich friends are recovering

It's all in the spin.

[Just Me]

14. Job-KILLING recovery for the corporate black holes,...

,...makin' a killin' off their slaves (that would be ALL of us,...and they really do NOT discriminate :) )

[papau]

3. Friday job increase over 200000 finally - or not - screw the guesses

and I am betting not - more likely 150,000.

Which the media will sell as the best Bush has ever done, praise Bush.

[Florida_Geek]

4. Auto sales down

"However, it said that nearly all regions reported slower auto sales in January and February compared to a year ago"

Mmmmm I smell something cooking here.

[mac2]

5. How can that be true?

We went for lunch and walking around a historic village just outside Chicago,IL. At least five stores were empty. That has never happened before. Guess, the visiting buses with seniors aren't coming to buy any potpourri anymore?

A store has closed in a new mall nearby..and KMart has been empty and closed for over a year.

Over expansion and the bad economy is a fact of life in my area. Banks keep building even though the economy is bad. Sound like another S&L by a Bush coming up?

Our village wants to build a huge multi-level apartments and store fronts around our downtown lake. A town of 17,000 isn't downtown Chicago. We liked our small town feel. It was good for property values.

Banks and developers could care less about the impact on our community if it goes bad. The mayor and trustees just plain stupid Republicans.

[JPace]

7. If there are no jobs....

there is no economic recovery!

[bushisanidiot]

10. Yeah, Expand Downward

George McDumbass is the worst president in U.S. history!

[bif]

11. Expanding over to India...Pakistan...Iraq...

Got that right.

21. That is literally true

US GDP numbers net from companies which outsource.

In addition, most of the growth is due to a housing and loan bubble, which nets the aggregate of house prices for each quarter.

For example, in Q4 2003, they built a lot of homes while Fannie Mae bought the mortgages. This led to a 17 percent or so jump in house prices.

17 percent price jump--but no jobs.

That is why Bushie can say "record GDP"

[demosincebirth]

13. Slow as...

the expansion of the universe.

[barbaraann]

15. And here's the same story without the pro-Bush bias.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1519&e=12&u=/afp/us_economy_fed

[leftchick]

17. Thanks barbaraann, Here it is... the real story...

as opposed to pravda...

Federal Reserve's Beige Book sees slow jobs growth

<snip>
Jobs have trailed far behind the rest of the economy, which expanded at a 4.1 percent annual pace in the last quarter of 2003, after a 19-year record 8.2 percent explosion in the third quarter of 2003.
Most analysts expect only moderate job gains when official employment data for February are released Friday.

US businesses hired 112,000 extra people in January -- a three-year record but far fewer than had been predicted -- as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent, data showed last month.

Wall Street economists are predicting a net gain of about 125,000

[54anickel]

22. This stat is interesting. They didn't already reclassify McJobs as

manufacturing, did they?

According to surveys by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), jobs growth picked up in factories in February but slowed in the vast services sector.

:evilgrin:

[tom_paine]

16. Pravda. As believeable as a 1978 Soviet Agriculture Report

Now that 3 years have gone by and most of the Purges and euphemistically named "reorganizations" have occurred, these institutions are now making substantial progress towards becoming Orwellian Lie Machines.

It is only logical that the Busheviks, who so resemble the Bolsheviks in all but their particular rationale for Tyranny, would use the government the same as the Commies they say they hate.

So by now, all organizations are run by people who wish to destroy them. But NO! A better use is to leave them in place but corrupt them, so as to take advantage of the gullible Imperial Subjects' belief in these organizations.

Yep, I believe Bushevik institutions EXACTLY as much as I tusted Soviet Institutions and Economic Reports.

Yes, we are still 98% free but the 2% we've lost is that which holds up the rest.

[solinvictus]

18. McManufacturing

But hey, aren't all those new fast food manufacturing jobs going to save us in the long run?!?!?!

[teryang]

19. The dollar is going up and ... ?

...we are supposed to believe that this is a good thing?

Get ready to pay back your debts with dollars that are harder to obtain yet still don't pay for education, insurance, fuel, state and local taxes, or medical care like they used to. Get ready for stag-flation.

The fact that they are harder to obtain will make it necessary for you to increase your productivity even more at work, work more for less or...if you are out of work make it harder to get work and more likely that you will work for less.

Top investment under the hard money trend? REITs, in other words landlords; just like the middle ages, a feudal society.

20. All credit

Dive into the GDP numbers.

[McScotty007]

23. give GWB credit, good thing I live in Dallas though, lol

If the economy is truly recovering, then we need to be glad. As I have said before, I am new to this board and I know the policy. Please go easy on me, as I am new to this place.

[The_Casual_Observer]

24. Credit for what?

Best employment performance since Herbert Hoover??

Biggest deficit in history? Highest gasoline prices on record?

Sure, let's give him "credit" where it's due. Then let's let him lose in a landslide.

[kysrsoze]

27. What kind of B.S. are you trying to shove down our throats, Freeper?

Yeah, what a lucky guy you are not to be one of the small group of about 3 million people who still can't get a decent job. Hmmmm....a Democrat from Dallas who loves everything Bush does? Whatever.

Your attempt at subversively altering our feelings about Buscho is pathetic at best. At least try a little subtlety.

Please move on.

[newyawker99]

28. Hi McScotty007!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. Expand into oblivion.

[nagbacal]

26. Fed sez economy is expanding

Then why won't they release the PPI numbers? They're not as easy to doctor as Friday's job numbers.

[newyawker99]

29. Hi nagbacal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: