THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION

Introduction
This paper will be a discussion of the current economic condition of the United States and this writer’s opinion on how it can be changed. Unemployment is high and needs to be reduced to full employment. We will explore the inflation rate, GDP growth and other factors of our current economic situation.
The main factor that put us in a recession in 2007 thru 2009 was the crash of the housing market and subprime loans. Are we are no longer in a recession. But where are we?
Unemployment
Though the recession started in 2007, unemployment is still high. The January 2014 unemployment rate was 6.6%. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014) This is down from the 2013 unemployment rate of 7.4%. In 2007 the unemployment rate was 4.6% (better than the full employment rate of 5%). The unemployment rate peaked at 9.6% in 2010. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014) The unemployment rate is not what we would like to see but it is getting better and will eventually get back to full employment.
Projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not give us much hope for a quick return to full employment. “Slower projected growth in the civilian non-institutional population and declining labor force participation rates limit growth in the labor force, which in turn limits economic growth.” The growth in the labor force from 2012 to 2022 is projected to be .5% per year. That is down from the .7% in the years from 2002 thru 2012. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014)
Inflation
“The latest annual inflation rate for the United States is 1.5% through the 12 months ended December 2013, as published by the US government on January 16, 2014.” ( CoinNews Media Group LLC Staff, 2014) The lowest inflation rate for the period of 2007 thru 20...

... middle of paper ...

...rom-the-economy-in-2014/
McConnell, C. R., Brue, S. L., & Flynn, S. M. (2012). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies - Nineteenth Edition. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
U.S. Department of Labor Staff. (2014, February 13). Employment Projections: 2012-2022 Summary. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm
U.S. Department of Labor Staff. (2014, February 14). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNU04000000?years_option=all_years&periods_option=specific_periods&periods=Annual+Data
U.S. Department of Labor Staff. (2014, February 14). The Employment Situation - January 2014. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf