How have things been going with the post-pandemic(?) economic recovery? In this video, CNBC’s Rick Santelli looks at that question in relation to figures from Q3 2021 which showed a slight increase in economic growth (2%). According to the Commerce Department, while that is an escalation, unfortunately it is the lowest of the coronavirus recovery era yet which raises cause for concern.
Tag: CNBC
US Economic Job Creation
America’s job creation count has been in flux for a while now, probably in connection to the pandemic. In August the hoped-for and economic policymaker predicted job gain was 720,000. But this figure fell substantially short at 250,000. September was equally (if not more) disappointing with a mere 194,000 jobs added to available options for the unemployed. These numbers did not fare well for predictions of a strong economic bounce back.
But October is looking brighter. According to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been a drop in unemployment from 5.2 to 4.8 percent. The expectation was 5.1 percent so this should have been seen as good news. But not everyone felt that way. Economic Research Director at Indeed, Nick Bunker said that:
“This is quite a deflating report. The hope was that August was an anomaly but the fact is, the delta variant was still with us in September. One optimistic interpretation is that Covid-19 case counts are receding, so future months should be stronger. But the reality is that we are still in a pandemic.”
Another CNBC report explained that the 4.8 percent unemployment rate is actually the lowest that it has been since February 2020.
America’s Employment and Economic Outlook for 2021
In this video, Kelly Evans of CNBC talks to Bank of America’s Michelle Meyer about the economic outlook for this year with regards to the job report from December 2020.
Drop in Unemployment
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.37 million in August and the unemployment rate tumbled to 8.4% as the U.S. economy continued to climb its way out of the pandemic downturn. CNBC’s Steve Liesman breaks down the data.
Re-Opening of the US Economy
Last month the re-opening began. Throughout the country different states began opening their economies for business along with certain guidelines. Nonetheless there are some concerns about the timing with some experts warning against the potential of catalyzing a second wave and thus an even greater spike in re-infection and economic hardship.
Bolstering America’s Economy Through Technology
Technology is good for so many aspects of society. One of them is preservation and growth of an economy. In a new book written by MIT economists Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson entitled, ‘Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream, the two make the case for the benefits of investing in bolstering technology into the economy.
They argue that as well as strengthening growth, supplementing investment in science results in better job opportunities and higher wages. This is especially useful now when so many Americans believe their salaries are not conducive to their everyday expenses. Johnson said:
“Good jobs are for MIT graduates, but they’re also for people who don’t finish college. They’re for people who drop out of high school. There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety across the country.”
According to Bloomberg’s US State Innovation Index, California is America’s “most innovative economy” based on the following factors:
- STEM jobs
- R&D
- Firms in technology
- Productivity
- Individuals who have science/engineering degrees.
Perhaps therefore not surprisingly – supporting Johnson and Gruber’s theory – a CNBC article found that California accounted for almost ¾ of non-farm jobs created in America in February; an additional 14,600 (nonfarm) jobs were added by the state last month; a report found that nonfarm payrolls in America increased by 20,000 jobs. Furthermore, Forbes contributor Mike Montgomery found that “technology can help prevent future California wildfires.” So there really is a lot to be said in favor of the benefits of technology for a state (and country’s) economic welfare.