Brace Yourself for a Flattening Economy This Summer

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Brace_Yourself_for_a_Flattening_Economy_This_Summer_110524

Summer may mean warmer weather ahead, but not necessarily sunny days for the economy.

Recent figures produced by the Department of Labor have shown an uptick in new jobs, which has heartened some economists and no doubt the White House. In March and in April, more than 200,000 new employment opportunities were created.

But two good months in a row are not a guarantee that there will be a third, fourth or fifth. For starters, the spring employment figures aren’t as rosy as they might appear. Every month 130,000 new workers enter the job market, so 200,000 more jobs really means only a net improvement of 70,000 positions for the mass of unemployed looking for work.

Also, if the past four years are any indication, job figures will go down in the coming summer months. The problem lies with how the labor department calculates its spring statistics, which tends to inflate the news during that period, and thus make it that much harder for summer to look just as strong.

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