U.S. Economy Archives - The Virginia Star

Government Jobs Increasing Under Biden

September 20, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

A significant portion of the jobs that have been added to the U.S. economy under Biden consists of government jobs and other public sector positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

As the Daily Caller reports, a total of 327,000 public sector jobs have been added to the economy from January to August of 2023, accounting for 17.4% of all jobs. During the same period of time in 2022, only about 175,000 public sector jobs were added, amounting to just 5% of all jobs. Overall job growth has also been slower in 2023, with a total of 1,884,000 jobs added this year compared to 3,590,000 jobs added during the same period in 2022.

Commentary: Interest Rates Are Soaring, Raising the Alarm for a Painful Reckoning for America

August 24, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Someone with a million dollars of credit card debt probably wouldn’t celebrate if his interest rate skyrocketed. Yet some analysts are touting rising interest rates on America’s trillions of dollars of long-term debt as a good sign for the U.S. economy.

Are they right? Are rising long-term interest rates a good thing? Certainly not for anyone looking to secure a 30-year mortgage at two-decade-high rates. And certainly not for the federal budget. Not when America is sitting on $32.7 trillion in debt.

Feds Continue Borrowing over $5 Billion Per Day Despite Credit Downgrade

August 13, 2023 The Center Square

The federal government is borrowing an average of $5.3 billion per day this fiscal year, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated Tuesday. The new estimate come just days after a top international creditor downgraded the U.S. credit rating.

“The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates – more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year,” CBO said. “Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.”

U.S. Economy Grows Moderately as GDP Ticks Up

July 27, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023, according to gross domestic product (GDP) statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday morning.

Real GDP increased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2022 after being revised up from an initial estimate of 1.1%, according to the BEA. Economists expected the GDP would be around 2% in the second quarter of 2023, following high inflation and an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

GDP Report: U.S. Economic Growth Slows

April 28, 2023 The Center Square

The U.S. economy is growing at a slower pace, newly released economic data shows.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released Gross Domestic Product Data Thursday that showed the size of the U.S. economy increased by 1.1% in the first quarter of 2023, more slowly than the previous quarter.

U.S. Economy Adds 517,000 Jobs as Unemployment Drops to Lowest Since 1969

February 4, 2023February 3, 2023 The Center Square

The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate dropped to 3.4%, the lowest since May 1969.

By comparison, there were 260,000 jobs added in December 2022 and the 517,000 was the largest increase since 568,000 in July 2022, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. GDP Ticks Up, but Recession Fears Remain

January 27, 2023 Admin

The U.S. economy grew modestly in the fourth quarter of 2022, despite signs of weak domestic demand, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Thursday. In the fourth quarter, inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) grew by roughly 2.9%, down slightly from 3.2% in the third quarter, the BEA reported. Recession concerns among economists linger, however, amid fears that the Federal Reserve’s campaign of interest rate hikes — intended to reduce economic demand to slow inflation — will lead to reduced spending and layoffs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Critics Blast Biden After Federal Report Shows Killing Keystone Pipeline Cost Thousands of Jobs

January 7, 2023January 6, 2023 The Center Square

The Biden administration has drawn fire for admitting that killing the Keystone Pipeline cost the U.S. economy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

A report from the Department of Energy showed the pipeline would have supported tens of thousands of jobs, though the number is hard to nail down.

Job Growth Surpasses Expectations in November

December 3, 2022December 2, 2022 The Center Square

The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November, more than economists expected.

“Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care, and government,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. “Employment declined in retail trade and in transportation and warehousing.”

Biden’s Energy Policies Costing U.S. Economy $100 Billion a Year: Study

October 11, 2022October 10, 2022 Just the News

President Biden and senior officials in his administration have repeatedly said this year that the U.S. is near “record levels” of domestic oil and gas production. According to a new study, however, that’s not exactly the case.

The analysis by economists Stephen Moore and Casey Mulligan found that the Biden administration’s policies have caused the U.S. to produce significantly less oil and gas during Biden’s presidency than it would have during a second term for former President Trump — to the detriment of the national economy.

Analysis: Impending Rail Strike Estimated to Cost U.S. Economy $2 Billion a Day

September 15, 2022September 14, 2022 The Center Square

Billions in economic losses and disruptions to everyday lives of Americans loom with a potential U.S. freight rails strike at the end of the week.

An agreement deadline is 12:01 a.m. Friday.

JPMorgan Stashing Away Hundreds of Millions in Fear of ‘Powerful Forces’ Shaking US Economy

April 15, 2022April 14, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

JPMorgan Chase stashed away hundreds of millions of dollars in cash amid growing fears that the U.S. economy will enter a recession, The Wall Street Journal reported.

JPMorgan Chase put aside $900 million in cash in preparation for an economic downturn, The Wall Street Journal reported. JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon has increasingly warned that the Federal Reserve has been behind the curve fighting inflation and their efforts will bring the U.S. economy into a recession around the fourth quarter of 2022.

U.S. Trade Deficit Reached Record High in 2021 as Imports Surged

February 9, 2022February 8, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Several cargo boxes on a ship in the ocean

The U.S. trade deficit continued to grow in December as the import-export gap widened to record highs in 2021, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

The trade deficit grew by 1.8% in December 2021 to $80.7 billion, the Census Bureau announced Tuesday, $1.4 billion above the revised figure from November 2021.

25 States Urge Biden to Rescind Fed Nominee over ‘Radical’ Climate, Social Views

February 2, 2022February 1, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

A large coalition of state financial officers announced their opposition to one of President Joe Biden’s top nominees for the Federal Reserve over her “radical” policy positions.

Sarah Bloom Raskin would put U.S. financial and economic stability at risk to achieve her “preferred social outcomes” if confirmed, the top financial officers of 25 states wrote to Biden in a letter Monday. Raskin, the former deputy secretary of the Treasury Department during the Obama administration, has taken particular aim at addressing climate change through aggressive financial policies.

“As State Treasurers, Auditors, and financial officers, we write to express our strong disapproval of Sarah Bloom Raskin as your choice for Vice-Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank. We urge you to withdraw her nomination,” the letter stated.

Commentary: 2022 Won’t Be More of the Same

January 2, 2022January 1, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

End of the year reviews, along with predictions for the coming year, are a staple around this time. But, as Yogi Berra wisely said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

I took a look at what I wrote last year, and a lot of it held up reasonably well (You can be the judge). I argued that the system and its managers are not doing a great job, the coronavirus crisis exposed their incompetence and malevolence, and that bad economics and crime would be major factors in marring the year ahead. Specifically, “a crisis of authority and legitimacy is emerging from failures in the most fundamental tasks of a society: the provision for basic needs, physical security, and a fair and accepted means of making decisions and picking leaders.”

U.S. Economic Growth Slowed to Two Percent in Third Quarter as Supply Chain Worsens

October 29, 2021October 28, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. economy grew at a 2% rate in the third quarter of 2021 as supply chain issues and the delta variant slowed gains.

The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of net services and goods produced, grew at a 2% rate during the third quarter of 2021, the slowest gain of the pandemic era, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Thursday.

Federal Reserve Begins Taking Steps to Fight Growing Inflation

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Federal Reserve said in September that it would begin taking steps to combat growing inflation in the U.S. economy, according to notes from a Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 Open Market Committee meeting first obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

The Federal Reserve will be scaling back its $120 billion monthly purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage securities due to the growing surge in inflation and strong consumer spending leading to heightened demand, according to minutes from a September meeting released Wednesday by the WSJ. The reduction in spending, commonly referred to as tapering, will begin in mid-November, and experts believe it could end by June, according to the meeting notes.

GDP Surges 6.5 Percent as Economy Reaches Pre-Pandemic Size

July 30, 2021July 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. economy surged 6.5% in the second quarter of 2021 as states continued to end coronavirus-related restrictions that triggered an economic recession last year.

The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of net services and goods produced, jumped at a 6.5% annual rate between April and May, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report released Thursday. GDP plummeted 31.4% in the second quarter of 2020 amid the massive nationwide economic shutdowns that occurred during the first coronavirus outbreak.

U.S. Added 379,000 Jobs in February, Unemployment Rate Fell to 6.2 Percent

March 6, 2021March 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 379,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate fell to 6.2%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 379,000 in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, and the number of unemployed persons fell slightly to 10 million. Economists projected 210,000 Americans to be added to payrolls and the unemployment rate to increase to hold at 6.3% prior to Friday’s report, according to The Wall Street Journal.