Economy Grew at Strong Rate Last Qtr("It's boring,economy in great shape")

U.S. Economy Grew at a Strong Rate Last Quarter
By VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: July 29, 2005


The economy grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the second quarter on the strength of consumer spending, investments and exports, the government reported today.

The report from the Commerce Department showed broad and sustained growth in areas like software, housing, car sales and government spending, with few signs of inflation. It was the ninth straight quarter of growth exceeding 3 percent.

As expected, the gross domestic product slowed from the first quarter when it increased by 3.8 percent. Economists were expecting second-quarter growth of 3.5 percent, and it appeared much of the shortfall was caused by businesses slowing production so they could work off large inventories of cars and other goods. The change in inventories subtracted 2.32 percentage points from the second-quarter growth figure.

Equipment and software sales soared, climbing 11 percent, and homebuilding grew at a brisk 9.8 percent pace, another indication that the hot housing market is playing a starring role in this economy. (Sales of new and existing homes both hit records in June.)

"It's kind of boring in a way, the economy is in great shape," said Bill Zadrozny, chief executive of Siemens Financial Services, which lends money to businesses for expansions and investments....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/business/29cnd-econ.html?hp&ex=1122696000&en=85f0e0d163a42976&ei=5094&partner=homepage

outside of DC during this "boring, great shape" economy. So boring that it has literally bored her to tears. That's how boring it is, Mr. Zadrozny, mister chief executive, Siemens Financial Services. Boring to tears.

I'm sure her story is one of many.

And for a lot of people in same situation, it ties in with related article I just happened to notice in LBN.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1662875

Hot Housing Market Opens Doors for Fraud
Dream of Homeownership Is Preyed Upon

By Michael Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 29, 2005; A01


NEW YORK -- For mortgage scammers, deed thieves and property flippers, this is the Golden Age.

The chatter in New York, as it is in Washington, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Miami, is of housing riches quickly realized. Prices have tripled in those cities, and 70 percent of Americans now own a home. But for thousands of working-class and poor Americans, the venture into homeownership has brought misery at the hands of the unscrupulous.

"We've never seen so many schemes and such complexity to the fraud," said Sarah Ludwig of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, which has helped lead investigations into predatory lending in New York. "Everyone works to defraud: the broker, the appraiser, the attorney and the inspector. Before a homeowner knows it, they are in way over their heads."...

***

their are no good investments because the Gov stats that are out there spin the economic news to show better than reality?

Worldwide, real estate has become the only "investment" (Costa Rica water front lots have doubled in last 3 years) - and now "homebuilding grew at a brisk 9.8 percent pace, another indication that the hot housing market is playing a starring role in this economy".

Next week we get the jobs report.

Check out jobs growth after subtracting the pretend "birth/death" numbers since 1/1/2001 - they will continue to be negative over 5 years.

GDP growth has a 1% to 1.5% annual kicker in the overestimate for "product improvement" that Bush folks toss in - and that translates into higher GDP.

Then check out the inflation calculation - which minimizes the impact of actual inflation -the 2+% is almost 4% in the real world - and note how that ups the GDP growth.

They don't have to pay taxes, thanks to tax-busting Bush, or their workers, thanks to union-busting Ronnie and economy-busting Bush, real interest rates thanks to Greenspan, and for all I know, they get breaks on utilities from Enron executives.

Oh, yes, almost forgot....no benefits like health care and pensions, thanks to the clowns in the GOP, either!

I was just given a promotion and a raise. My wife and I are going to build an addition to our house with money we were able to save. My property taxes have decreased and my meager investment portfolio is doing extremely well.

The only thing I can complain about is the price of gas and the lack of suitable alternatives to transportation.

are not millionaires!

:-)

And, at times, the temptation to dig into our retirement savings was strong.

However, we dealt with the skinny times and are finding that we actually have "discretionary" money each month.

...and that's all you can complain about, then you have an exceedingly narrow view of what constitutes a national economy let alone a society.

Most aren't doing well. Many are suffering. Yet you lick your chops and declare your inability to be happier.

Pretty banal, pal.

I love the "few signs of inflation" part.

Here's my inflation report for the year:

Property tax: Up 22%

Health insurance: Up 18%

College tuition: Up 9%

Gas prices: Up ~35% over two summers ago

Cable: Up ~8%

Food: Well my wife does the shopping but I haven't seen our bills go down.

Clothing: My least favorite buy. $20 for a t-shirt?

Concert/theater/movie tickets: No inflation here. Ha-ha-ha-ha

Now for the good news....I've been able to buy all kinds of electronic goodies for less than I would've paid in the past. Those cheap PCs, TVs, etc. really make up for the thousands of dollars flying out of my pocket to meet the increased cost of neccessities like insurance and taxes.

Oh yeah, my last raise was about eight years ago. I'm also one of those relics called "a saver" so my interest earnings have all but disappeared. I'll soon be tapping savings to meet the "non-inflationary" increase costs that I've had to pay.

My daughter graduated from college in January (Dean's List, awards etc) and hasn't been able to land a job.

Last week she went on another interview, and the interviewer *claimed* that he had had 2,000 replies.

She hasn't heard from him.

Another family member (who just landed a job), described her job hunt as unusual - in that companies are taking a veeeeerrry long time to make up their minds as to who to hire.

My daughter also graduated in January with honors. After a bunch of interviews she took a temp position as a receptionist answering phones in what was basically an isolation booth.

She used her time to send out resumes, hundreds and hundreds. She went on a number of interviews (countless). She got two job offers.

Now this might sound ok but these were all low-level admin, data entry, receptionist positions. One small step up from the retail jobs she had in HS and college.

She ran into the over-qualified, no experience conundrum. One place checked her references (good sign right??) and then called a week later to have her come in for another interview!!! WTF??

She registered at many temp/FT agencies. She has amazing data entry skills. No calls.

Employers interview for entry-level jobs like they were filling $200K upper management positions. It is unbelievably competitive.

Her friends, with the exception of those with some kind of finance-related degree, have had the same experience.

There are few opportunities that value a young, intelligent, enthusiastic and responsible person who just wants a chance to contribute and utilize her abilities to the fullest.

She took a job as a receptionist in NYC. She likes the people and the environment. She is bored and under utilized. She plans on going to grad school next September as her goal is to teach at the college level. A wonderful goal but I worry....

The sad truth is that education and ability is really not valued. It is a checkoff that lets you compete for positions that once required a high school diploma.

The relative who just got a job (highly-skilled technical) had many "PRE-interviews" over the phone, one 6-HOUR interview (didn't get hired), several re-interviews, one place that claimed they'd "only hire someone that they knew" (?)

Luckily (?), my daughter has two part-time jobs, but would certainly like to have one full time one.

My daughter graduated in May with the highest honors available from the university she attended. She has a degree in Business. Summa Cum Laude.

Can't find anything but crap with no benefits, long hours and no respect.

Sure...the economy's great....well (as another George says) ...let me show you some ocean front property in Arizona....

is more in line with the reality on the ground

all running on the criminal bushgang's oil. everybody else ain't.

Anything involved with the credit/housing bubble supported by the non-stop printing press.

we tried to add a second shift in August, but couldn't hire enough people to fill it. We are hoping to add that shift, and a third in September, if we can find enough bodies.

Of course what it doesn't tell you is that that growth isn't exactly benefiting a wide segment of the population.

If our economy is going so gangbusters why are the Chimp's approval ratings in the toilet? If this is the man who has single-handedly revived our ailing economy and set everyone on the road to prosperity, why do so many Americans disapprove of him and say the country is on the wrong track? Seems like we have a conflict there. Why doesn't some corporate presstitute look at that little inconsistency? I won't hold my breath.

keep seeing empty rentals, empty storefronts, houses sitting for sale months at a time...

I can only relate to the economy in how it's affected me personally - the last 5 years, while not a disaster, have been a steady trend downward. Almost all of my closest circle of friends have experienced the same - with one exception, and that couple (who already had money) have done phenomenally well. Bought a second house. Opened up a new business. Bought a couple of rental properties. Their gains have more than offset the losses everyone else has experienced, if you're looking at the big picture.

And that's the Bush economy in a nutshell, isn't it? A small group of people benefits tremendously, everyone else treads water or sinks slowly.

Too much puts pressure on wages, harms their special interests.