The U.S. job market had its best year of gains last year since 1999, and economic activity hit a whopping 5% in the third quarter -- the best quarter since 2003.
Three months later, the U.S. economy is looking a little tired. It's losing momentum in puzzling ways. Hiring is still strong, but experts are starting to scale back their growth forecasts.
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen summed it up well in a speech Friday: "If underlying conditions had truly returned to normal, the economy should be booming."
Economists say there are two main problems: Workers' wages aren't growing much, if at all. As a result, Americans aren't going out and spending much. On top of that, many foreign economies are slowing down, which puts pressure on the U.S.
The question going forward is whether we're just in a blip or a bigger shift is taking place.
"The consumer really hasn't kicked in at full speed ahead," says Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. "We're going through a soft patch."
With March's jobs report out on Friday, this economic head-scratcher will be in full focus this week.
Do you think the Economy will stay decent?
What do you think causes the economy's rise and falls?
Replies
Again, good job but be sure to reply more frequently especially when you don't have a lot of replies. Any time you reply, your story will get bumped to the top making it more likely to be seen and replied to.
I don't know what to think, but I'm hoping these officials and business owners get their crap together so America doesn't hit a wall. I believe it's the factors of people buying, businesses selling, and employers making the money to pay the employees that need to buy the things from the businesses that need the money to support the employers paying their employees.
I could tell you but id have to kill you.... I think that were looking at another crash/ downfall here in the next decade...
I think that the economy will stay just fine for a while because the last crash was in 2008 and I think we're recovering quite well from it. The rise and fall of supply and demand from major businesses causes the economy to rise and fall.
The economy will be just fine. It always ends up coming back. Companies getting cheap with their employees makes people not be able to buy stuff, and then it's a vicious cycle.
By the way, what's the link in the middle for?