Statement by Christina Romer on the GDP Report

[Clio the Leo]

“Data released today by the Commerce Department show that real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of the year. This is in stark contrast to the decline of 6.4 percent annual rate just two quarters ago. Indeed, the two-quarter swing in the rate of growth of 9.9 percentage points was the largest since 1980. Analysis by both the Council of Economic Advisers and a wide range of private and public-sector forecasters indicates that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contributed between 3 and 4 percentage points to real GDP growth in the third quarter. This suggests that in the absence of the Recovery Act, real GDP would have risen little, if at all, this past quarter.”

“After four consecutive quarters of decline, positive GDP growth is an encouraging sign that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction. However, this welcome milestone is just another step, and we still have a long road to travel until the economy is fully recovered. The turnaround in crucial labor market indicators, such as employment and the unemployment rate, typically occurs after the turnaround in GDP. And it will take sustained, robust GDP growth to bring the unemployment rate down substantially. Such a decline in unemployment is, of course, what we are all working to achieve.”

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1009/romer_on_gdp_growth_de20f49b-ae83-4e91-a026-2ed657345318.html

[hileeopnyn8d]

1. I'm breaking my own self-imposed rule

and commenting on rec/unrec.

I rec'd but it stayed at zero. Why would someone unrec a statement by Christina Romer?

:shrug:

[NYC_SKP]

5. Some unrec anything they don't want to see on the greatest page, others unrec...

...anything positive about Obama.

Still others unrec anything by particular members with whom they have a problem.

And some accidentally hit unrec when they meant to rec, or vice versa.

And a brazillian other possible reasons!

:donut:

[hileeopnyn8d]

8. All true

which proves I need to go back to my self-imposed rule.

Or at the very least, I should have waited a few more minutes before making that comment. :blush:

[rucky]

2. Can anyone explain how productivity grows...

after massive layoffs?

[mkultra]

4. in any work environment, there is a slack

growth in GDP pushes employers to take up slack until they cannot and are forced to start hiring. Job growth is a lagging indicator. GDP pushes new jobs.

[Armstead]

7. Productivity is in contrast to employment == and can be contradictory

Productivity basically means income a company generates relative to its expenses.

If a company can find a way to generate revenue and reduce expenses, its productivity rises.

Reducing expenses includes lowering labor costs. So, layoffs can actually contribute to productivity.

[Peacetrain]

3. This was huge.. huge..last year in October we dropped in 24% in our markets

which meant massive layoffs.. this is good news to see the gdp growing

[Kahuna]

6. People have to understand that the recovery happens in steps. Jobs

always lag behind in a recovery. Unrecommending a positive report about growth won't change the good news one way or the other. :patriot: