#121 - Economic Indicators

So the word is un-employment has gone down 1% to 4% yet Unemployment claims are still going up. Aside from the obvious margin of error critiques, there are some reasonable explanations for this despite the harsh economic conditions we are facing. My favorite explanation is that the reason for the drop in unemployment is that people are taking part-time jobs which make sense. How about we look at economic data which can be found here and what trends we can find from the last few months to paint a clearer picture.

Let's focus on some direct inflationary numbers, prices.

--------------------------------
Producer Prices

The producer price index for all finished goods rose 0.3 percent in
February. Prices of finished consumer foods fell 0.5 percent, while
prices of other finished consumer goods rose 0.7 percent. Capital

equipment prices rose 0.5 percent
--------------------------------
CONSUMER PRICES--ALL URBAN CONSUMERS

In February, the consumer price index for all urban consumers was
unchanged seasonally adjusted; it rose 0.3 percent not seasonally
adjusted. The index was 4.0 percent above its year-earlier level.
--------------------------------
PRICES RECEIVED AND PAID BY FARMERS

In March, prices received by farmers rose 2.0 percent; prices paid by
farmers rose 1.7 percent. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.)
--------------------------------


Let's put these numbers into perspective by assuming that we see a similar change in each of the next 12 months.

Estimate Numbers for the Year
Producer Prices =  3.6%
PRICES RECEIVED AND PAID BY FARMERS = 24%, 20.4%

Imagine food prices went up 24% by the end of the year, doesn't really matter what the CPI saids, your gonna be hurting unless you get a big raise or adjust your lifestyle. Just something to think about when evaluating your government.