I got a present for my fellow Republicans, even after the worst economic and financial crisis in 80 years thanks to BrainDead Bush America is today a lot stronger. At the end we all enjoy prosperity so lets give our President Obama a robust round of applause for taking us ahead even with the Republican Party doing so much for America to fail so that they could blame Obama, sorry YOU FAILED! — HIRING BOOM Employers added 2.65 million jobs over the first 11 months of the year, and the unemployment rate sank to 5.8 percent from 6.7 percent. When the government announces the December job data next month, the 2014 job total is expected to be just shy of 3 million — the most since the dot-com era in 1999. Compared with recent years, those gains have been less concentrated in lower-paying industries such as retail, food service and temp agencies. Were finally entering that virtuous cycle phase of the expansion when more jobs lead to higher incomes, which generates more consumer spending and growth, said Brett Ryan, an economist at Deutsche Bank. Though average wage growth has been modest, the number of people with paychecks — and the ability to spend — has soared. If you exclude the economys winter-induced 2.1 percent annual contraction in the first quarter of the year, annualized growth has averaged 4.4 percent in four of the past five quarters. Thats far above the historic average of roughly 3.2 percent in the decades after World War II. — STOCKS SURGE Stocks extended their bullish stampede of nearly six years. The Standard & Poors 500 index climbed about 13 percent this year, hitting record highs more than 50 times. If you bought the index at a market bottom in March 2009, youve basically tripled your money. Corporate mergers helped drive this years gains, along with major companies buying up $400 billion-plus of their own stock. —OIL PRICES PLUNGE In a gift for U.S. consumers, energy got significantly cheaper. Crude oil prices were essentially cut in half from this years high. The slowing economies in Europe and Asia curbed demand, while production remained steady. The price decline trickled down to gasoline pumps. Average prices nationwide dropped to $2.32 a gallon, down roughly a dollar from a year ago, according to AAA. Some of that price slowdown has hurt U.S. oil producers, which must weigh layoffs. But overall, cheaper oil is a positive. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen noted that the falling prices resemble a tax cut, generating savings for consumers that can be spent elsewhere to drive economic growth. — AUTOS SALES UP Far more Americans splurged on a new car after having held onto aging vehicles during the recession and slow early stages of the recovery. Sales were on track to increase 6 percent this year, with 16.5 million new vehicles on the road, according to Cars. That would be the best sales pace since 2006. —INTEREST RATES DROP Even as the economy has strengthened — usually a sign that interest rates will rise — its become easier to borrow. More loans mean more spending and faster growth. Rates have declined even though the Fed ended its program to stimulate growth by buying billions in Treasury and mortgage bonds each month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has slipped to about 2.27 percent from 3 percent when the year began. The average 30-year fixed mortgage is 3.83 percent, down from roughly 4.5 percent a year ago.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:21:57 +0000