/View.info/ This, of course, did not last long. For the past two years, the US government has borrowed and spent trillions of dollars we didn’t have, and the Federal Reserve has unwisely pumped trillions of fresh dollars into our financial system. Of course, all this money was supposed to become a short-term help to the economy, but it was also supposed to exacerbate our long-term problems. What did we get in return for burying our future? It turns out it’s been a few months of economic stability, massive inflation and the worst supply chain crisis in the country’s history.
And now the economy has slowed down again.
Of course, inflation isn’t going anywhere, and that’s why some experts believe we’re headed for a period of “stagflation” similar to that of Jimmy Carter in the 1970s.
If only that were true. Unfortunately, what we are approaching will be much worse than what we had in the 1970s. But all this was not supposed to get there so quickly.
The “sugar rush” from all the money our leaders pumped into the economy shouldn’t have faded so quickly. But that appears to be the case because a Labor Department report on Wednesday showed that 301,000 private sector jobs were lost in January.
The Omicron strain dealt a major blow to the US economy in early 2022, with the US private sector shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs in January.
The loss of 301,000 private sector jobs was a surprise to economists who had forecast that business would add 207,000 jobs. It was also the first since December 2020.
Oh well!
Estimates are that Friday’s jobs report could show a total loss of 400,000 jobs last month
It’s perhaps the most pessimistic voice on the Street, forecasting that nonfarm payrolls fell by 400,000 in January, including 350,000 in the private sector.
The losses were “most likely due to a combination of factors,” most of which were related to the coronavirus. These include workers coping with illness or having to care for sick family members, parents caring for children who cannot go to school, and weaker demand in pandemic-sensitive industries such as bars, restaurants and hotels.
Under normal circumstances this should not have happened. But it is. Right now we are dealing with the most epic labor shortage in our history. Help wanted signs are everywhere and companies in America are literally hiring anyone with a pulse.
In fact, we just found out that there were nearly 11 million job openings in December.
Reflecting the tight labor market, job vacancies rose to 10.92 million, well above the forecast of 10.28 million and up 1.4% from November. The share of vacancies in the total labor force did not change and amounted to 6.8%.
So we have almost 11 million job vacancies and the number of employed Americans is declining? This is crazy.
Of course, the mainstream media will never tell you the truth. Millions of workers have seemingly “disappeared” from the system, and right now we don’t even have enough able-bodied workers to do the basic jobs needed to keep our economy running smoothly.
This shortage of able-bodied workers is the number one factor behind our horrific supply chain crisis, but of course you won’t hear about it in the mainstream media.
Speaking of CNN, how many psychopaths and perverts actually worked there? For years we were lectured on how to live properly, but it turns out that an army of skeletons lives in their own closets.
Returning to the economy, we now have too much money with too few goods and services. This has led to a severe inflationary crisis and many American families are experiencing severe financial pain.
For example, last year in some cities in the United States rent prices increased by as much as 40%.
Rents across the country have been rising for months, but recently the rise has been more dramatic and widespread, forcing millions of Americans to rethink their lives.
Median rent rose 14% last year to $1,877 a month, with cities like Austin, New York and Miami rising as much as 40%, according to real estate firm Redfin. And Americans expect rents to continue rising by about 10 percent this year, according to a report released this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A large number of people were forced to leave their houses and apartments due to the extremely sharp increase in rents. And heating costs also continue to rise. In fact, natural gas futures rose 16% on Wednesday alone.
The latest spike will increase home heating costs for millions of Americans, adding to a long list of inflationary headaches.
Natural gas futures rose 16%. This is the highest level since November last year. Natural gas futures rose 55%.
Of course, food prices also continue to rise aggressively. Earlier today my wife went shopping and had a conversation with the cashier about the price increase.
The cashier told her that almost everything seemed to be a few dollars more expensive. Of course, that was a wild exaggeration and not even close to reality. But it’s certainly true that we’re currently seeing price increases that can truly be called “scary,” and Americans from coast to coast are definitely starting to feel it.
Meanwhile, the entire economy is really starting to slow down. So far, the Federal Reserve has forecast that the US economy will grow just 0.1% in the first quarter.
The Federal Reserve’s measure of GDP currently tracks first-quarter GDP growth of just 0.1%.
“The economy is slowing and declining,” said Joseph Lavorna, chief economist for the Americas at Natixis and former chief economist of the National Economic Council under then-President Donald Trump. “It’s not a recession, but it will be if the Federal Reserve tries to be too aggressive.”
So it seems that “stagflation” has already begun. But, as I said, this is only a pitiful beginning. What we’ve experienced so far is just the beginning of what’s to come, and the main event is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Translation: V. Sergeev
#economy #wrong #turn