Friday Economic News

As usual Friday is the day that the government puts out all sorts of economic reports. The big headlines for the day:

Incomes see first drop In two years.

U.S. incomes fell surprisingly by 0.1 percent in April, the first drop in almost two years, but core consumer prices - a key measure of inflation - inched up a less-than-expected 0.1 percent, a Commerce Department report showed Friday.

May job growth stronger than expected but still not very good.

There was a net gain of 157,000 jobs in the month, up from the revised 80,000-job gain in April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that there would be a 135,000 gain in employment in May.

The unemployment rate stayed at 4.5 percent, the same as in April and in-line with economist forecasts.

The manufacturing sector lost an additional 19,000 jobs as our manufacturing base is further decimated. The one thing to remember is that the economy needs to add 150,000 jobs per month to keep up with new people entering the job market. The unemployment rate does not include those that have stopped looking for a job or are under-employed. Under the Clinton administration the economy added 22,000,000 jobs or 229,000 per month. Under the Bush administration the economy has added 5,360,000 jobs in 77 months for an average of 69,610.00 per month. This is one of the major reasons that the middle class is in decline and savings rates are at depression era levels. Our economy is strong for companies and the shareholders that control them. For the rest of us life is not quite as rosy.