Question:
IF US IS ADDING SO MANY JOBS, WHY is GDP growth so weak. are job numbers false?
anonymous
2014-05-02 08:27:48 UTC
ok, they say the us is adding 200,000 or more each month. but GDP growth is very weak. ts been under 1% since 2010 if you subtract government stimulus and fed intervention. I wonder if jobs numbers are accurate. the economic output or size of economy is not growing, budget and trade deficits not coming down, dollar weakening, and banks still not lending
Eight answers:
random_man
2014-05-02 08:57:33 UTC
First of all, you're not even comparing numbers from the same time period, the GDP growth numbers were from Q1 2014 (Jan, Feb, Mar). Today's jobs numbers were from April, and indicate, to some extent, an improving economy, after a disappointing winter.



Secondly, yes, GDP growth is an overall, general measure of the growth rate of the economy, and economic indicators tend to move, to some degree, in sync, but they don't always, and there's not a direct link between GDP and employment. When one rises or falls the other tends to as well, but it's not assured. The economy is a complex beast, and economic indicators sometimes move in opposite directions.



The US adding 200,000 jobs per month is not unfeasible, nor is it particularly dramatic, given the size of our economy and workforce. It's not inconsistent with a modest growth in GDP.



Finally, all these indicators that you are referring to are statistical estimates. There is noise and innacurracy in any data set. They don't count one-by-one every job created or every transaction in the economy, they survey, estimate, and project. They're subject to revision, sometimes significantly so. That doesn't mean they're "false" it means they're statistics, not counts.



So, yes, the economic numbers released recently are a mixed bag. Some indicators are positive, others less so. All in all, they suggest an economy that's moving ahead in fits and starts, with some bright spots, yet a long way to go. They suggest we had a tough winter economically, but that initial indications are that things may be improving. But you can't read too much into one month's numbers.
tonalc2
2014-05-02 08:34:08 UTC
Don't know where you've been getting your statistics.



When Obama took office, the GDP was -2.8%. That's minus 2.8%.



2010: 2.5%

2011: 1.8%

2012: 2.8%

2013: 1.9% ( slower growth due to sequestration )
?
2014-05-02 08:32:00 UTC
lol... what were Reagan's GDP numbers if you took out the massive military spending in the cold war?



I don't know... cons NEVER CARED... but NOW with Obama we need to take those numbers out?



yeah... we know.... you SHIFT AND TURN THE NUMBERS IN THE MOST INSANE WAYS POSSIBLE... when it comes to Obama... so much so it's impossible to even get an historic idea of if your numbers are even good or bad or not... you manipulate them so much they lose all context for any proper judgement..
tribeca_belle
2014-05-02 08:36:47 UTC
Positive GDP growth is better than the negative GDP growth status in which the last Republican president left the country.



I guess you don’t count Republican war and military spending as “government stimulus and fed intervention” so their GDP numbers get a pass from you. What hypocrisy!
Gabby Johnson
2014-05-02 08:44:58 UTC
"ts been under 1% since 2010 if you subtract government stimulus and fed intervention."



That's an arbitrary and meaningless distinction. The public sector is part of the overall economy.
anonymous
2014-05-02 08:31:16 UTC
You cons can spin any good news to make it bad. I think you are actually happy when bad things happen to America. Continue your hatred of this country.
anonymous
2014-05-02 08:29:38 UTC
It is spin designed to try to silence the dismal economic news from last quarter.



This administration has no credibility after lying to the American people constantly.



Liberals lie constantly
Susan M
2014-05-02 08:32:59 UTC
More people are not working or looking for work:

http://reason.com/24-7/2014/05/02/unemployment-down-to-63-percent-as-80000


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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