Economics Roundtable

Calculated Risk

Read the Bill McBride interview.


Jobs

The best summary of the state of our economy is the graph (below) of employment as a fraction of population for people over 16 years old. The decrease is large, but the most troubling feature of the graph is the flat trend .


Click on the image to get a bigger version.


June Payroll Employment

The slowndown in employment growth over the past few months is starting to become more apparent in the graph below.

Click on the image to get a bigger version.


Focus on the Problem

U.S. payroll employment peaked at 132.5 million jobs in February 2001. For April 2012, U.S. payroll employment had reached 133.0 million jobs, marking the third month in a row above the February 2001 level.


Click on the image to get a bigger version.


Graph-of-the-Year Candidates

Donald Marron likes European interest rates. Click on the image to get a bigger version. Can you find three distinct subperiods?

Brad DeLong favors the U.S. gdp gap.

Finally, it's hard to argue against the payroll employment graph below (straight from FRED) and the comparison across recessions (courtesy of Calculated Risk).


Looking Up At 2001

In February 2001, U.S. payroll employment peaked at 132.5 million. The November 2011 figure of 131.7 million still falls 800,000 jobs short of the earlier peak.


Click on the chart for a larger version.


Remember M1?

Money Supply M1 growth is now over 20% per year over a 12 month lag. M1 growth has touched 20% before, but not with excess reserves of $1.6 trillion. Where is M1 headed?


Click on the chart for a larger version.


EconModel

The Economics Roundtable is sponsored by EconModel.

The Classic Economic Models cover micro, macro, and financial markets.


RSS Feed

David Smith’s EconomicsUK.com

"The personal website of David Smith, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times, London.”


May 23, 2013, 6:04 am, 1097486
Gross domestic product rose by 0.3% in the first quarter, in line with the preliminary estimate, but the economy is still in need of some serious rebalancing. Both net exports and investment subtracted from GDP by 0.1 points in the...


May 22, 2013, 10:04 am, 1096986
If diplomacy is the art of not causing offence, the IMF's annual Article IV assessment of the UK economy is a master-class in diplomacy. It allows the government to say it is already doing the things the IMF recommends and...


May 21, 2013, 6:04 am, 1096157
Inflation has been remarkably steady at 2.7% or 2.8% in recent months so the drop in April to 2.4% was a surprise, and a very welcome one. Lower petrol prices and air fares contributed most to the fall, which reduced...


May 18, 2013, 8:04 pm, 1095214
My regular column is available to subscribers on www.thesundaytimes.co.uk This is an excerpt. The CBI, the employers’ organisation, says Britain’s economy is “moving from flat to growth”. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says its latest leading...


May 15, 2013, 8:04 am, 1093319
Today was unusual in two respects. The first was that it was Sir Mervyn King's last inflation report press conference, after more than 80, ahead of his retirement next month. The second was that the Bank's new forecast is slightly...


May 11, 2013, 8:04 pm, 1091591
My regular column is available to subscribers on www.thesundaytimes.co.uk This is an excerpt. Spring has sprung with a vengeance for stock market investors. In recent days we have seen the Dow Jones industrial average close above 15,000 for the...


May 10, 2013, 8:04 am, 1090928
Britain's overall trade deficit narrowed to £3.1 billion in March, from £3.4 billion in February (originally reported at £3.6 billion). The value of exports increased by 3.5% between February and March, while imports rose by 2.6%. Britain's EU trade deficit...


May 9, 2013, 8:04 am, 1090192
The Bank of England left monetary policy unchanged at its May meeting, as expected, Bank rate remaining at 0.5% and the size of the asset purchase programme at £375 billion. No statement was issued, though the Bank will publish its...


May 4, 2013, 8:04 pm, 1087503
Following its most recent quarterly gathering, held at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on 16th April, the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (SMPC) decided by six votes to three that Bank Rate should be raised on Thursday 9th May. Five...


May 4, 2013, 8:04 pm, 1087502
My regular column is available to subscribers on www.thesundaytimes.co.uk This is an excerpt. On Thursday the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its official interest rate from 0.75% to 0.5%, its president Mario Draghi citing the fifth successive quarterly decline...