Friday's typical post focuses on national economic news. Rather than focusing on just one topic, here are a few brief comments about the national scene:
Click here to watch a video titled "Rebalancing the economy: America" recently produced by www.Economist.com - the video is a great overview of how excessive spending caused problems with the American economy and what will have to happen to remedy the situation.
Retail and food services sales dropped in July, reversing a two-month trend of gains and surprising economists. Sales were down 0.1 percent from June and 8.3 percent over the year.
Manufacturing sales data (which lag one month behind the retail sales series) indicated an increase in trade and shipments of 0.9 percent from May to June. The figure is down 18.0 percent from June 2008.
The U.S Import Price Index fell 0.7 percent in July. Decreases for both petroleum prices and nonpetroleum prices contributed to the July drop for overall import prices, which followed four consecutive monthly increase. Export prices also declined in July, falling 0.3 percent after advancing 1.0 percent the previous month.
On the last business day of June, the number of job openings in the U.S. was little changed at 2.6 million, nearly the lowest level since 2000.
The Federal Reserve gave a vote of confidence in the economy this week, deciding to slow the pace of one major rescue program and commenting that "economic activity is leveling out".
Special Report: Next week we will be posting a 5-part series on Poverty and Prosperity in Oregon - be sure to check back for updates!
4 comments:
I couldn't link to the "Rebalancing" article, and also couldn't find it on Economist.com. Help?
The link should be working now! Check it out and please let us know if you have any further problems.
Thanks,
- Brooke
I wonder about the political neutrality of the piece from the Economist. Are you implying that the nation’s (and perhaps the world’s) current financial crisis is Ronald Reagan's fault? You said the video is a "great" overview, and Reagan was the only person mentioned by name.
I think the key word to note in that paragraph is "overview". The video gives a great overview.
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