Americans don’t buy Obama’s talk of economic ‘recovery’

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Americans don’t buy Obama’s talk of economic ‘recovery’

washingtonexaminer.com
By Editorial Writer | DECEMBER 3, 2013 AT 9:48 AM

President Obama regularly touts what he calls the “economic recovery” supposedly prompted by his policies, including the creation of 7.5 million jobs, consistent growth for more than three years and revitalization of the domestic auto industry. He recently told ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos, for example, that during the Great Recession of 2008, “we came in, stabilized the situation. The banking system works. It is giving loans to companies who can get credit. And so we have seen, I think undoubtedly, progress across the board.”

It’s an upbeat talking point for the president, but the problem is most Americans don’t believe it. Rasmussen Reports said its most recent survey that only 22 percent of respondents rate the economy as "good" or "excellent." Similarly, the latest CNN/ORC International survey found that 39 percent believe the economy is still declining and only 24 percent believe it is recovering. The same survey in October found 59 percent predicting poor economic conditions a year from now, so there is precious little economic optimism out there.


It's not just the opinion polls that produce data indicating a sluggish economy. Thanksgiving holiday sales declined 2.7 percent, according to the National Retail Federation, despite herculean promotions by major retailers like Walmart, Macy's and others with special deals and deep discounts. More people shopped on Thanksgiving Day and online, but at the expense of Black Friday. Retailers are having to work harder and offer more deals just to entice customers to come look.

It’s not hard to understand why they aren’t buying. "Consumers are stressed. They're still under a lot of pressure from things like high unemployment. We see that in our business." GameStop CEO Paul Raines told The Wall Street Journal. Similarly, Stacey Welch of Plainfield, N.J., told the Journal that “it’s really rough right now, I’m earning less now” at her bakery because business is slow.

Consumers and employers simply do not see sufficient reason to be optimistic about the economy, despite Obama’s repeated attempts to persuade them otherwise. Unemployment remains around 7.6 percent and the labor participation rate — which measures how many people have jobs and how many have quit looking for jobs — is at its lowest level, 62.8 percent in October, in decades. Job creation has picked up slightly in recent months, but the 1.6 million positions created since January 2010 is far short of the 5.1 million lost during Obama’s first year in office during the recession.

One thing has increased spectacularly under Obama: federal regulation. “Completed rules reviewed in the federal Unified Agenda compilation of priority regulations went up 16 percent in the last year and 40 percent the year before,” according to the latest edition of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's annual study, Ten Thousand Commandments. With more regulations come greater compliance costs for businesses, and every dollar that goes to complying with federal edicts is one less dollar available to invest in job creation. It's not rocket science.
 

Old Bookaroo

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So "Black Friday" sales were down - but "Cyber Monday" sales were way up.

Hmmm...could there be a trend here?

Cyber Monday rocked while mobile sales rolled.

The day widely regarded as the Super Bowl of online sales ca-chinged its way to a record day for retailers, including Walmart, and marked a shift in shopping preferences as smartphones and tablets drove nearly a third of traffic — and for some retailers, more than half.

The numbers are mind-boggling. As of 6 p.m. Eastern time, overall sales were up 17.5% on Cyber Monday compared with last year, says IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Another e-commerce research company, Custora Pulse, found online sales up almost 19%. The numbers may shift even higher as people continue to shop through the evening.

This year, "Cyber Monday is well on its way to being the biggest online shopping day in history," says Custora CEO Corey Pierson.

Cyber Monday clicks in with record sales

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
 

Jim in Idaho

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Yup...anybody that thinks the economy is getting better probably works for the government.
Jim
 

Edward1976

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Any proof it's getting worse? No, not an op/ed, I mean real proof. Considering the thrashing it took 2000-2008 it's amazing we still even have an economy. Gee, maybe another Republican sponsored government shutdown will help, hmm?
 

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Treasure_Hunter

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Yup...anybody that thinks the economy is getting better probably works for the government.
Jim

Let's see, unemployment was 7.8% in Jan 2009 and after almost 5 years it was 7.3% last month. Yep that .5% is amazing...

We will NOT go quietly into the night!
 

Old Bookaroo

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305,529,237: U.S. population estimate for Jan. 1, 2009

317,179,300: U.S. population estimate for December 3, 2013


Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
 

xr7ator

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The fact that unemployment numbers are fabricated based on the folks that are receiving current help and that most of the new population would be infants leaves little reasoning why the population figures were posted.
 

Chadeaux

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The fact that unemployment numbers are fabricated based on the folks that are receiving current help and that most of the new population would be infants leaves little reasoning why the population figures were posted.

Trolling (as in the shrimping business, not as an ugly guy living under a bridge) for a fight is all.
 

Old Bookaroo

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Chad:

You have some data to back up your claim "the government" is growing?

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
 

Old Bookaroo

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xr7ator:

If the unemployment rate has remained about the same from January 2009 to December 2013, yet the US population has grown by well over 11,000,000 persons - there must have been more jobs created.

If you have data to show that unemployment figures are fabricated - I'd like to see them.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
 

xr7ator

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Unless those 11 million people are infants and/or not at a working age and/or the number of young folks moving into the workforce are the same as the number of retirees. Do you have any data to show that the working class population has gone up? You seem to be the kind that would like to go actually research this now so, enjoy!
Again, you seem to be the reader and compiler of facts so you already know how the "unemployment" figures are fabricated/calculated.
 

NHBandit

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So "Black Friday" sales were down - but "Cyber Monday" sales were way up.

Hmmm...could there be a trend here?

Cyber Monday rocked while mobile sales rolled.

The day widely regarded as the Super Bowl of online sales ca-chinged its way to a record day for retailers, including Walmart, and marked a shift in shopping preferences as smartphones and tablets drove nearly a third of traffic — and for some retailers, more than half.

The numbers are mind-boggling. As of 6 p.m. Eastern time, overall sales were up 17.5% on Cyber Monday compared with last year, says IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Another e-commerce research company, Custora Pulse, found online sales up almost 19%. The numbers may shift even higher as people continue to shop through the evening.

This year, "Cyber Monday is well on its way to being the biggest online shopping day in history," says Custora CEO Corey Pierson.

Cyber Monday clicks in with record sales

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
Do you suppose some of that might be because Thanksgiving was nearly a week later than usual ? Which puts us a week closer to Christmas, a week less to get our shopping done, etc ? I'm asking. I honestly don't know the answer but common sense tells me that might play a part in those numbers.
 

OP
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You have some data to back up your claim "the government" is growing?

How blind and naive can you be:BangHead:Anybody care to add to blind and naive feel free.
 

Native Floridian

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So "Black Friday" sales were down - but "Cyber Monday" sales were way up.

Hmmm...could there be a trend here?

Cyber Monday rocked while mobile sales rolled.

The day widely regarded as the Super Bowl of online sales ca-chinged its way to a record day for retailers, including Walmart, and marked a shift in shopping preferences as smartphones and tablets drove nearly a third of traffic — and for some retailers, more than half.

The numbers are mind-boggling. As of 6 p.m. Eastern time, overall sales were up 17.5% on Cyber Monday compared with last year, says IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Another e-commerce research company, Custora Pulse, found online sales up almost 19%. The numbers may shift even higher as people continue to shop through the evening.

This year, "Cyber Monday is well on its way to being the biggest online shopping day in history," says Custora CEO Corey Pierson.

Cyber Monday clicks in with record sales

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

That's a grand slam home run!
 

Native Floridian

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Do you suppose some of that might be because Thanksgiving was nearly a week later than usual ? Which puts us a week closer to Christmas, a week less to get our shopping done, etc ? I'm asking. I honestly don't know the answer but common sense tells me that might play a part in those numbers.

If that was a factor, the question is why didn't it translate at brick and mortar stores?

Still, that Cyber Monday was so off the hook good tells a much different story than the lead post in this thread.

Another factor - don't discount the stock market. Up between 26 and 34% YTD depending on which index you use. That's huge! 5 years of growth packed into one year. Just a note - stock markets don't climb at that rate in poor economies. or with poor future economic predictions.
 

Old Bookaroo

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NHBandit:

I think you make a very good point. I hadn't looked at the calendar.

I was paying more attention to the comment that "Black Friday" sales were down. There's a sea change to shopping on the Internets.

Because the baseline is relatively small, huge percentage increases in "Cyber Monday" shopping may not equate to higher dollars (combined with Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday sales). In the end, chances are overall consumer spending will be slightly above 2012.

I liked the stores that refused to open on Thanksgiving - I believe Costco was one (the store that pays wages well above the national average, by the way). Weren't there one or two others? Like In 'n' Out Burger closing on Easter Sunday. Classy moves!

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo
 

smokeythecat

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No way the economy is improving. I'll know it's good to go when the NUMEROUS VACANT HOUSES around here have people in them. But preferably not all 11 million.....
 

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