1) The homeownership rate in the United States has dropped to the lowest level in 19 years.
Can we please not link home ownership to the economy? It kind of screwed us over in 2005-2008 when economists were all like "the economy is peachy-keen because we've got record home ownership". I'd like to see this statistic adjusted for A) homelessness and B) those whose credit sucked before and/or after the recession to the extent that they should not have been allowed to buy under old rules, let alone the new ones. Sorry to the folks who had been fine, but who were hurt by events outside their control (see my first sentence).
2) Consumer spending for durable goods has dropped by 3.23 percent since November. This is a clear sign that an economic slowdown is ahead.
Not necessarily. This was taken from the link that "3.23 percent" goes to: "There is a clear sign of declining retail sales. In 2011, same-store sales grew by 2.9%; in 2012, they increased by 2.6%; and in 2013, same-store retail sales grew by 1.5%. See the trend? Sales at retail stores grew last year at only half the pace they grew in 2011. The trend of slower sales growth—maybe even negative growth—will continue for 2014." Also, I think it's important to know the definition of "durable goods" ("goods that can last for a long time, like a T.V. or furniture"; via the same article). To me, I'm a little leery of the durable goods argument because they are durable. These are things that people aren't going to buy every year, so a logical assumption is simply that people don't NEED these items. Look, the economy in 2011 SUCKED. We all know this. The price of televisions (for example) was way down as retailers tried to move merchandise. So, since people felt like the economy was improving (which is true), they bought them. This ends up inflating the sales of 2011 and makes 2013 look bad because A) people don't need a new television (and we don't want an economy based purely on wants instead of needs) and B) it's simply a reflection of sales when prices are at market value.
What we need to do is compare growth to previous years. 1.5% growth might be standard growth during the neutral years.
3) Major retailers are closing stores at the fastest pace that we have seen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Yeah, I'm not going to bother with the link to this one. How many people shop online? Raise your hands. You're the reason stores are closing. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do we really need a K-Mart on every corner? CVS is building a ton of stores in my area and I think it's kind of ridiculous because there can't possibly be that much of a market (we had a collapse of pharmacies about 15 years ago). So, let's see. What happens when you flood the market? There will be a collapse. Before the internet, as population boomed, it was beneficial to put a lot of the same business in one small area. Now, with the internet and as leases expire (what's happened to at least one of the two K-Marts closing in my neck of the woods), companies are closing failing stores to consolidate and to not pay more in rent than the building is worth.
4) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of all families in the United States do not have a single member that is employed. That means that one out of every five families in the entire country is completely unemployed.
So...my grandma lives alone. She's unemployed. She's also 80 years old and has been retired for like 25 years. What does the Bureau of Labor Statistics consider to be a family? A household? Because then, my grandma is part of that 20 percent. Alrighty then, according to BLS, it's TWO related people living together. So, if my grandfather were alive and, let's toss in my grandma's neighbors wife, we'd have TWO, count them, TWO (eh, eh, eh) more households of unemployed people living off the government (and their private pensions).
This actually comes from that "20 percent" link: "A number that I find much more useful is the employment-population ratio. According to the employment-population ratio, the percentage of working age Americans that actually have a job has been below 59 percent for more than four years in a row…" It doesn't say what "working age" is, but the BLS Glossery seems to imply that 16 is the minimum age. At work, I was reading the employment application for TowneBank and it seemed to say that no one under 18 could apply (maybe they make exceptions). So, if the "working age" includes 16 year olds and, let's say, those who were forced into retirement when the recession first hit, how accurate a number is that 59%?
So, let's see. That 20% includes a LOT of retired couples and that 59% includes a LOT of teenagers and folks a year or two shy of retirement...Can we have some real numbers now?
5) There are 1.3 million fewer jobs in the U.S. economy than when the last recession began in December 2007. Meanwhile, our population has continued to grow steadily since that time.
Erm...okay? We live in a quasi-Capitalist society that is creating new uses for computers and robots every day. My part time job includes (at times) stapling covers onto small books, a job that our digital press can do with ease and less error. I'm being replaced, but I don't mind because that is one seriously sucky job (I like the dozen other things I do where I haven't been replaced yet). Books created on the digital are cheaper and better quality...do you really want to go back to what was? Our economy is in transition.
6) According to a new report from the National Employment Law Project, the quality of the jobs that have been "created" since the end of the last recession does not match the quality of the jobs lost during the last recession...
- Lower-wage industries constituted 22 percent of recession losses, but 44 percent of recovery growth.
- Mid-wage industries constituted 37 percent of recession losses, but only 26 percent of recovery growth.
- Higher-wage industries constituted 41 percent of recession losses, and 30 percent of recovery growth.
Our digital "pressman" literally just hits print on the computer screen. Our 4-color pressman is more traditional, but still uses a computer to make the plates. My dad, a REAL traditional printer, used to have to pull mats out of cases and create type letter by freaking letter. HIS was the high paying job back in the pre-computer days. So, you can see, that as the printing industry changes, what was once a high wage job, is now something any monkey can do ;-).
7) After adjusting for inflation, men who work full-time in America today make less money than men who worked full-time in America 40 years ago.
And whose fault is that? Look at the ratio of the highest and lowest paid individual in a company. It's skyrocketed in the US, whereas in Sweden, there's a law mandating that the highest executive can only make 12 times more than the lowest peon. Companies will do just about anything to avoid paying the government taxes, but it rarely extends to paying their employees more. How many companies offer bonuses to at least 50% of their staff? Not Walmart.
8) It is hard to believe, but 62 percent of all Americans make $20 or less an hour at this point.
Yeah...See my answer to question 7. This isn't a government thing; this is a corporate decision. I believe it's Walmart who, by simply using 5% of it's cash holdings, can give ALL of it's employees a check for $200 (which is a weeks pay for like 75%).
9) Nine of the top ten occupations in the U.S. pay an average wage of less than $35,000 a year.
See above.
10) The middle class in Canada now makes more money than the middle class in the United States does.
AND they don't have to pay extra out of pocket for medical care. See this article and remember that it doesn't account for medical outside of what the government offers.
11) According to one recent study, 40 percent of all Americans could not come up with $2000 right now even if there was a major emergency.
I'm working on it.
12) Less than one out of every four Americans has enough money put away to cover six months of expenses if there was a job loss or major emergency.
This is the plan.
13) An astounding 56 percent of all Americans have subprime credit in 2014.
Yeah, well that whole subprime debacle that tanked the economy in the first place didn't do anything to help these folks while creating a lot more.
14) As I wrote about the other day, there are now 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.
My boyfriend gets a whopping $15 a month in food stamps. He's on disability (massive heart attack and then a stroke that left him in a coma for a week) that barely pays the bills while being told that he'll lose his medicare (he'd pay like $2000 a month for his medications and doctor's visits) if he makes more than $600 a month working.
15) Ten years ago, the number of women in the U.S. that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
Wonder how many of them are stay-at-home moms by choice.
16) 69 percent of the federal budget is spent either on entitlements or on welfare programs.
Mostly to people either working or who are retired.
17) The number of Americans receiving benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million.
See above. And like I said, my boyfriend would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to work full time, but to do so would kick him off medicare and there's not a company in the world that would (could--his defibrillator means he can no longer get a CDL, his profession before he died 14 times) hire him because his insurance premiums would take AT LEAST the full amount of his pay check.
There's one more thing I'd like to note: I first heard about this via Fox Nation, before taking the link to the original article. I was at first astonished because Fox Nation listed a HUGE amount of the article (usually it's just the first paragraph or two) before cutting off. Anyone else find it a bit telling that they stopped after #9?
