Is the economy losing steam? Ali Velshi breaks down the latest indicators

soundoff (5 Responses)

1. Joan
   

   The jobs report seemed really gloomy today although it is still on the plus side. I was wondering if they take some factors that no-one can control into account. Obviously during the last couple of months, thousands and thousands of people affected by the floods, tornadoes and fires have lost their places of business and their livelihood. They would need to file for unemployment insurance to tide them over. That happened during the BP oil spill and the snowstorms along the east coast too. Also, here we have a fairly high unemployment rate but I know many, many people who are technically unemployed but work steadily doing yardwork, landscaping, home renovations, babysitiing, etc. and get paid under the table. They are actually doing quite well but don't show up in the statistics. Also, when you talk about the lack of jobs on one hand and then in another story talk about the hundreds of thousands of unfilled, skilled labour jobs that doesn't make sense. Obviously in a country of three hundred million people, there has got to be people who can do those jobs. The big companies all seem to be doing quite well so why aren't they hiring again? Could it be that they are tied into the Republican agenda, sitting on their profits and don't want things to improve very much so that it reflects on the Obama administration's plans. It reminds me of the red states that either didn't want stimulus money or didn't use it for job creation so that it didn't look very helpful. The inability to get the debt ceiling raised affects markets and credit ratings. The Republicans are using this as blackmail to get some of their wishes but won't consider tightening their own belts. Interestingly, Jon Stewart revealed last night on the Daily Show that Bush raised the debt ceiling six or seven times, probably to pay for the Iraq war and the unpaid tax cuts to the wealthy. Isn't it hypocritical for the Republicans to now be in such a tizzy over the same thing? It is kind of sad that the public needs to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to really get to the truth on so many issues. They cut to the chase and tell it like it is. Wouldn't it be great if all of the media did the same and didn't manipulate and exaggerate stories? Quite often stories of fear and gloom can be self-fulfilling prophecies and make matters worse. How about looking at the glass as half full instead of half empty all the time?

   June 3, 2011 at 11:08 am |
2. slider
   

   Is the economy losing steam? Is the economy losing steam? My god what planet have you been on for the last two and one half years?

   June 3, 2011 at 9:49 am |
3. Raj
   

   Please forward this email to Ali Veshi.

   Ali,

   I see you all the time on CNN. You do a GREAT job.
   I have a question. Why is US government responsible for creating jobs?.Considering that 90% of the US economy is controlled by the private industry, why is it the responsibility of the government to create jobs?. Why don't you and others report on how many jobs created by the private industry and HOW MANY are EXPORTED, so that there is FAIRNESS in news reporting. There is no point in just beating up only the government for job creation. The fact that it is the private industry which controls 90% of the US economy that is NOT creating jobs or if they are creating they are being exported. So to be FAIR, the stats on private industry should also be reported.

   Thanks
   Raj

   June 3, 2011 at 9:10 am |
4. Gaye
   

   Ali...Why do I never hear any reports about the number of people, like my husband and myself, whose homes are stuck in "foreclosure limbo"? We moved to Georgia from Las Vegas 5 years ago and were never able to sell our home there. After trying unsuccessfully to get Countrywide (now BofA) to modify our loan, we stopped paying and went into default 3.5 years ago. Three years ago, we mailed our keys and remotes to BofA; however, they have STILL not foreclosed on our house! Ocassionally, we receive notices that the house will be sold on the courthouse steps at an upcoming date, but it never sells...and we still own it on paper. My concerns are twofold: 1) How many properties are there just like ours out there, that mortgage companies are not taking possession of? (So, do investors understand that BofA's bottom line is NOT what they are reporting??) 2) As long as our property remains in our name and the foreclosure is not completed, our credit suffers! Can SOMEONE look into this practice and begin talking about it? Americans are being lied to about the financial status of mortgage companies that are engaging in this practice!

   June 3, 2011 at 7:45 am |
5. Wayne
   

   REMEMBER, this recovery was labeled as a jobless recovery, not a continued job loss recovery. So while economic indicators undicate we are in a recovery, the job gains have and continue to be offset by high numbers of layoffs while the trade deficit is increasing. This tells me that big business is obtaining more of those products it sells overseas instead of creating jobs to manufacture them here at home. The job outsourcing continues and as it does so, it is destroying the economy. REMEMBER, in economics every dollar earned is respent within the economy seven times before it becomes absorbed. In a declining economy due to out sourcing, every job lost represents the lost opportunity for that seven fold spending stream within the economy and creates wide spread job loss in the domestic economy.

   Free trade is anyting but free and out sourcing brought on by the removal of trade tariffs is the root cause for all of our economic problems.

   June 3, 2011 at 7:36 am |