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The Jobs Just Keep Coming
By Matt Margolis | May 30, 2004
Seems like we’ve been saying this a lot recently, but once again things continue to look great for the economy:
The Labor Department may report Friday that U.S. companies added 225,000 workers to their payrolls last month, fueled by an economy that’s raced ahead at the fastest clip since 1984, economists said.
The projected increase would bring to almost 850,000 the number of jobs created since March, for the best three months of job creation since the year 2000. The Labor Department may also report the unemployment rate held at 5.6 percent.
Separate reports from the Institute for Supply Management are forecast to show manufacturing and the service industry expanded this month. A report from the Commerce Department is projected to show that construction spending rose in April.
“It’s hard to say the economy is slowing if you get payrolls growing more than 200,000 and an ISM index above 60,” Robert Mellman, an economist at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. in New York, said. “The economy is doing just fine.”
Other reports expected to come out this week may show that productivity is up, from an estimated 3.5 percent. First-time claims for unemployment insurance probably fell to 335,000 from 344,000 the previous week.
I blame the Bush tax cuts.
Topics: In The News |
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May 31st, 2004 at 1:28 am
I don’t believe in supply side economics, even if these tax cuts were a big part of the recovery I don’t think they will be benefical in the long run. Eventually the national debt will have to be tackled, a tax increase or major cuts will have to be done. I don’t see the Bush administration doing either.
May 31st, 2004 at 1:29 am
i don’t see kerry or any democrat doing anything positive to the economy.
May 31st, 2004 at 2:00 am
Kerry has a proactive stance on free trade issues and is more likely to take a stand on job outsourcing. He also wants the tax cuts for the wealthy done away with and this will allow more money to go to healthcare, education, domestic programs that enrich normal Americans. I suspect most investment the wealthy are doing is outside the US anyway. Also a Democrat in combination with a Republican Congress will likely mean less money will be spent on pork so the deficit will probably begin to shrink, unlike now when it is still ballooning from less revenue and massive costs incurred from the war in Iraq.
While this is speculation I have seen and heard Kerry’s agenda enough times to have this outline of what his solutions are.
May 31st, 2004 at 9:40 am
Tax cuts are great, except as a single guy making under a hundred grand all Bush has ever given me is $300 back in August of 2001. He’s tried twice to take away my overtime pay and I make far more than that in overtime every month than that $300 the tax cut has given me in 3 1/2 years. Besides, if you cut taxes, you have to cut spending. Bush has not, and there is a rising tide of red ink that Bush and all his supporters ignore.
May 31st, 2004 at 3:28 pm
which is why it boggles my mind that when a memo suggesting certain cuts be made liberal fly off the handle… “You’re spending too much, but don’t cut any programs!”
May 31st, 2004 at 4:11 pm
Cut corporate welfare, cut military aid to other countries, get rid of tax credits to well off businesses, and get rid of subsidies. Nader would cut this, Kerry might do away with some of this, but I highly doubt Bush would cut any of this in a significant degree.
June 4th, 2004 at 12:47 am
Jay, you are wrong about cutting taxes means cutting spending. If the tax cuts generate economic activity, then they can be more than offset by greater revenues based on the smaller perctage applied to a larger number. Case in point - Virginia where I live now. The Republican controlled House held out against the Senate and the Governor about raising taxes. Finally, they caved. But numbers in this month show rising tax revenue - BEFORE the new taxes have taken effect. The reason, the economy is turning around.
Do the tax cuts come across as being for the wealthy? Yes. But that is because 10% of the people pay 90% of the taxes in the country. If the Dems really carewd about it - Soros, Streisand, Kerry-Heinz, Kennedy, and Buffet could just sign their money over to the government right now. or, pick some local project - like building new elementary, middle, or high schools. Fact is, the richest people in the country are about 50/50 dems and repubicans! Think about it! Half of the “wealthy” getting the unfair tax cut are Democrats - why don’t they just give it back?