Economic Optimism

Posted on Jun 5, 2009

tribunahispanausa.com

As one economist put it after seeing the May numbers, “There’s now a better tone to the data.”

You know things are bad when 345,000 Americans lose their jobs and that is seen as a positive sign. According to The New York Times, the fact that the toll on employment in May was not as profound as expected amplifies hopes of recovery.

The New York Times:

The American economy shed another 345,000 jobs in May as the unemployment rate spiked to 9.4 percent, but the losses were far smaller than economists anticipated, amplifying hopes of recovery.

“It supports the idea that before the end of the year and maybe even by late summer we could be at flat employment,” meaning no more net job losses, said Alan D. Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. “During the course of next year, we’ll probably start to feel better.”

Wall Street saw some fresh signs of potential revival in the better-than-expected report from the Labor Department on Friday, and stocks moved moderately higher after some hesitation.

But many analysts emphasized that the marked slowdown in the pace of job market deterioration — while positive — did not alter the reality that the economy remains very weak, with grave challenges still bearing down on millions of households and businesses.

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