Jobs, Economic Recovery Continue Slow Trek as First Half of 2014 Nears a Close
Midland, Michigan (PRWEB) June 11, 2014 -- Signals pointing to U.S. economic growth remain mixed as the first half of 2014 nears a close, notes the latest, newly released edition of the Northwood University Monthly Economic Outlook.
“All in all, the U.S. economy is improving but will probably show total economic growth of roughly 1.1 to 1.3 percent for the period between January 2014 and June 2014,” notes the report’s author, Timothy G. Nash, the university’s vice president for Strategic and Corporate Alliances and the Fry Endowed Professor in Free Market Economics. “This is well below what most economists had predicted and far below what Washington had hoped for.”
On the positive side, Nash notes, the U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs in May, with this steady growth pointing to signs of overall recovery picking up steam from its slow pace over the past five years. Unemployment, however, remained at 6.3 percent nationwide for May, which Nash says is high for an economic recovery in its fifth year.
“We need to applaud strong May job growth, but we should do it with some caution,” Nash says. “It’s important to point out that we now only have 138.5 million jobs in the U.S. economy today, relative to 138.4 million in December 2007.”
Nash further cites a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing that this growth isn’t completely rosy. Employment continues to have notable losses – 1.49 million fewer construction jobs and 1.65 fewer jobs in the manufacturing sector than before the recession. According to Nash, these high-paying jobs would have been recovered by now in a normal economic recovery.”
“Consider the fact that only 58.9 percent of working-age Americans have jobs today, down from 62.7 percent since the 2008 recession,” Nash says. “The U.S. recovery is not keeping pace with population expansion. Even the liberal Economic Policy Institute estimates the U.S. economy should have 7 million more jobs, given a normal recovery, with current population growth.”
Nash concludes this mostrecent report by noting that pro-business tax reform and a hard look at some of the highest tax rates on businesses in the world here in the United States should be a key driver for ongoing economic growth and expansion, citing the impending retirement of U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman David Camp as a great loss to this economic cause.
“His courage and bold initiative to start the debate on tax reform in this country was thwarted by a lack of statesmanship, vision and courage on both sides of the aisle in Washington by a Congress that lacks understanding of the challenges U.S. businesses and employees face in a complex global economy,” Nash says. “If America is to remain the leader of a free and prosperous global economy, it must have a free and prosperous economy. Pro-business tax reform is the key driver for the necessary growth and expansion.”
To review the Late May/Early June 2014 Northwood University Monthly Economic Outlook, visit http://www.northwood.edu/documents/about/Outlook/NUEconomicOutlook_052014.pdf.
ABOUT NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY
Northwood University is committed to the most personal attention to prepare students for success in their careers and in their communities; it promotes critical thinking skills, personal effectiveness, and the importance of ethics, individual freedom and responsibility.
Private, nonprofit, and accredited, Northwood University specializes in managerial and entrepreneurial education at two full-service, residential campuses located in southern Florida and mid-Michigan. Adult Degree Programs are available in eight states with many course delivery options including an online option. The DeVos Graduate School offers day, evening and weekend programming in Michigan, Texas and Florida. The Alden B. Dow Center for Creativity and Enterprise provides system-wide expertise in family enterprise, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and new business development. International education is offered through study abroad and in Program Centers in Switzerland, China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Bethany Hilt, Falls Communications, +1 (216) 472-4038, [email protected]
Share this article