A new report released by The Conference Board has revealed that we might experience a significant stall in job growth during the second half of 2024 that when coupled with the continuation of high inflation, elevates fears of stagflation. In short, our economy is in the crapper and it looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Thanks, Biden.
According to The Daily Caller:
The Conference Board Employment Trends Index, which has in the past successfully tracked job growth trends, fell from 112.16 in March to 111.25 in April, indicating that job growth may decline in the second half of the year as the index continues to trend down, according to the report. The downward projection in hiring adds more fuel to fears that the U.S. economy is in the midst of stagflation, typically marked by low economic growth, high unemployment and elevated inflation.
“The ETI fell in April, a sign that employment growth could stall in the second half of 2024,” Will Baltrus, associate economist at The Conference Board, went on to write in the report. “The ETI has been on a downward trajectory since its peak in March 2022, and this month signals a continuation of that trend. However, the Index remains historically elevated and is still above its pre-pandemic level, which suggests aggregate job losses are less likely than a slowdown in employment growth.”
Negative changes in the percentage of respondents who said that they find “jobs hard to get,” the ratio of involuntary part-time to all part-time workers and the number of employees hired in temporary positions drove the decreases in the index in the month, according to the report. The Board projects that slowing consumer demand for goods and services will be the main driver of rising unemployment in the near future.
Negative changes in the percentage of respondents who said that they find “jobs hard to get,” the ratio of involuntary part-time to all part-time workers and the number of employees hired in temporary positions drove the decreases in the index in the month, according to the report. The Board projects that slowing consumer demand for goods and services will be the main driver of rising unemployment in the near future.
Employment trends index fell again in Apr, and that was after Mar being revised down; the readings now point to job growth evaporating w/in the next 4 months: pic.twitter.com/pb5aZAg15W
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) May 6, 2024
The unemployment rate thankfully stayed low during the month of April hanging around 3.9 percent. The number of jobs added to the economy came in at 175,000 for the month, but that was actually far below the expectations of economists who had predicted there would be 243,000. The gains were also brought down by an increase of 8,000 government jobs, which is also much lower than the average 55,000 over the course of the last year.
But let’s be honest. Do we really want so many new government jobs created? More positions like this means the expansion of the government, the increase of bureaucracy, and more headaches and hassles for you and me. Not to mention the paycheck for such positions comes from our tax dollars. When more government jobs are created, we actually lose MORE money, and we simply can’t afford that right now.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) measured just 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024, while inflation remained elevated in March, rising 3.5% year-over-year, which has led many market watchers to speculate the economy is in a disastrous period of stagflation, which wreaked havoc on consumers in the 1970s and 1980s. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell criticized claims that the economy is stalling, pointing to low unemployment and underlying growth in certain aspects of GDP.
Well, you know, over the last twenty years we’ve had a whole lot of Democratic Party policies enacted and it’s caused nothing but heartache and misery. Time to change the channel, don’t you think?