The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment report was a bad start for July’s first week: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
The economy lost 467,000 jobs in June, substantially more than May’s 345,000 loss. You can see from the chart that’s better than the early months of the year, but a disappointment for hopes that strong recovery would rapidly shrink this number.
Job Growth
(Click on chart to enlarge)
Recessions shaded
As this blog has consistently stated, the economy can not pop back as long as the foreclosure crisis continues. As foreclosed properties are relentlessly dumped on the market, home prices keep heading south. Without a recovery in home prices, don’t expect an upsurge in residential building. And as long as residential construction remains in the doldrums, the economy and employment will languish. Residential real estate got us into this mess, and we can’t get out until it begins to recover.
(The chart was taken from http://www.beyourowneconomist.com. [Click on Seminars and then Charts.] Go there for additional charts on the economy and a list of Economic Indicators.)
© 2009 Michael B. Lehmann
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