Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
economic indicators and how they influence the whole society
economic indicators and how they influence the whole society
positive and nagative effects of inflation in an economy
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In order to assess the current state of the economy, the examination of important economic indicators or variables has always played a vital role in the understanding of the complex economic systems we live in. The analysis of these economic variables studied by many, not only has served as a tool to evaluate the current economic performance of a country, but also has allowed experts to envisage and continue the pavement of an economy's road. Currently, some economic variables have had favorable improvements indicating a general good outlook for the economy for the following months, requiring a further individual analysis and comparisons in order to foresee crisis or successes. One of the important economic variables being tracked is the consumer price index released by the Conference Board every month. Lately, people have claimed the economy seems to have a fair projection for consumer spending to some extent based on a 3.2 index increase in the last report. More specifically, thanks to the recent spending of the top 15% households comprised by higher income families, according to the report made by Kathleen Madigan of the Wall Street Journal in the article "Vital Signs: The 15%ers Are Feeling Better — and That’s Good for Economy’. However, the article and the chart posted note an important observation regarding the study of this trend. In 2012, the Commerce Department data implied the economy would suffer as high-income consumers felt nervous about the state of the economy generating a cutback in spending. Nevertheless, the trends seems to be different nowadays given that the economy is reacting to a new financial atmosphere in a new season. The data presented by Commerce notes wealthier families have decreased their spe... ... middle of paper ... ...t a winter can have on people preventing them to go out to look for a job, the core inclination that this variable seems to be taking appears to be favorable for the economy. Therefore, one can expect to presence upcoming favorable improvements in terms of hiring and unemployment rate, but ideally it would be better to not make rambunctious assumptions in this aspect, and see how the real state of the economy in terms of unemployment develops over the next months. In summation, based on these three but important economic variables one can expect slight improvements for the economy in different aspects. The best news appear to be an expected rise in projected consumer spending, while a steady unemployment rate is expected, and small but substantial growth in GDP seems to be around the corner thanks to an encouraging PMI that reports expansion at a lower rate.
This paper aims to discuss the Short-Term and Long-Term Impacts of the Great Recession and
The trends in unemployment affect three important macroeconomics variables: 1) gross domestic product (GDP), 2) unemployment rate, and 3) the inflation rate.
During the course of this paper, we hope to give the reader a better understanding of the economic forces at play that influence this Nation's GDP, in therefore its economic health.
State of the Economy is apart from the geopolitical and other uncertainties; the forces affecting demand this year appear, on balance, conducive to a moderate strengthening of the economic expansion.
Therefore the upswing in consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco in 2003 is a little unexpected. The year certainly saw much weaker retail sales growth than any other in the last five, but there was certainly no recession and consumer confidence remained high. We believe that the main reason for the slight relative improvement was that inflation in foods was above the average for retail sales in 2003. Spending on food would not have responded to that small relative difference and the proportion of food in the spending mix therefore increased.
The United States economy is racing ahead at dangerous speeds, and it may be too late to prevent the return of widespread inflation. Ideally the economy should move ahead gradually and grow at a steady manageable rate. Mae West once stated “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful” and it seems the U.S. Treasury Secretary agrees. The Secretary announced that due to our increasing surplus and booming economy, instead of having an outsized tax cut, we should use the surplus to further pay down the national debt. A tax cut, though most Americans would favor it initially, would prove counter productive. Cutting taxes would over stimulate an already raging economy, and enhance the possibilities of an increase in the rate of inflation. Paying off the national debt would actually help lower interest rates and boost investments, and therefore further increase the wealth of the population, while keeping inflation at bay.
Macropoland, a natural gas and oil importer, has a natural rate of unemployment of about 4.5% and a long run average rate of inflation of about 2%. However, there are two specific time periods where these rates fell below their potential. During the period between 1973-1974, the country had an inflation rate of about 15%, with an unemployment rate of nearly 13%. And now, they are experiencing an unemployment rate of 9% and an inflation rate of 0.4%. As their new economic advisor, it is my job to explain these two time periods.
“Macroeconomic indicators include economy-wide phenomena such as unemployment rates, national income, rates of growth, gross domestic product, inflation, and price levels” (Page & Stevens, 2005).
Unemployment refers to a situation to which where individuals are unable to find a job but are actively seeking employment. Unemployment is a major cost to an economy, because it results in the opportunity cost of lost production, as well as increased social welfare payments and a loss of taxation revenue. It also restricts domestic output and growth and has many detrimental social costs which include a loss of skills and family household tensions. In recent years sustained economic growth has been the best way to achieve a lasting fall in unemployment. When economic growth is strong, there is usually an increase in aggregate demand (AD) which means there are more employment opportunities and more resources will be needed to cope with the demand. The annual Federal Budget for 2010-11 just recently forecasted economic growth of 2% this financial year showing that Australia has well truly escaped the GFC. Consequently, unemployment is also expected to fall to 4.75% in 2011-12 from a current figure of 5.3% for the March quarter this year. Australia has been able to keep unemployment at a relatively low rate of 5-6% which is significantly lower than the OECD 's average. The RBA is also predicting growth rates between 3.25% and 3.5% in both 2010 and 2011. According to Okun 's law, unemployment will fall if the economic growth rate is greater than increases in population of the labor force and productivity growth (Trading
The current state of the economy in the United States has been slow in recent months. While the economy is not currently in a recession, we may eventually fall victim to the first recession we’ve had in nearly ten years. The economy in general is showing growth, just not much. It will be difficult to predict what exactly will happen to the US economy in the future. Many economists do not agree on what will become of the economy. Some feel that we will begin a recession over the next year, and some feel that there is significant policy implementation that will allow us to dodge a recession and regain our economic strength. There are many factors that make up the US economy. The means in which I will discuss the overall growth and current status of the economy is by analyzing the Gross Domestic Product, and discuss the factors that cause it to rise and fall.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. This report reveals the unemployed rate in the US, except government, farm and non-profit workers. That covers some 80% of the US working force. A decrease in the unemployed rate, i.e. there are more people working, usually indicates the market is growing. As a result the American Dollar will grow stronger. If a trader speculated that beforehand, and opened buying positions prior to the announcement – the outcomes would be to his favour. Naturally, if the unemployed rate rises the Dollar will weaken. Either way, the NFP and the speculations beforehand will cause vibrations in different
Euromonitor International, 2012, “Consumer buying behaviour in the recession: global online survey - executive briefing”, Euromonitor International, Accessed: 23/05/14
We are now approaching the half of this year. There are scores of surprising predictions from experts regarding this year’s economic and business condition. According to the economists, the world economy is predicted to be more thrive than last year, the economic condition of the U.S. was also estimated to increase 3% and significant increase in the trade sector. This prediction may bring benefits for developing countries like Indonesia in the trade sec...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses Seasonal Adjustment to accommodate for the sharp increases and decreases due to seasonal employment and layoffs. By removing the fluctuations, the graphs are easier to analyze, “Seasonal adjustment eliminates the influence of these fluctuations and makes it easier for users to observe fundamental changes in the level of the series, particularly changes associated with general economic expansions and contractions” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Typically, seasonal employment flows with the seasons, for example during the winter months, unemployment is higher because of industries like construction and agriculture are halted. On the contrary, at the beginning of the summer months, unemployment is lower because student enter the workforce as the return home from school.
Recent changes in economic indicators that monitor consumer activity suggest; that economic growth is occurring ,as evident by an increase in personal disposable income and consumer expectations of the economy. The economic indicators that monitor consumer activity are the Consumer Sentiment Index(CSI), the Personal Consumption Expenditure(PCE), and real personal disposable income. The CSI measures consumer confidence in the current economy, the future economy, and the consumers’ own financial health. The CSI can thus illustrate how willing consumers are to consume and how willing they are to save. Low confidence levels can result in less consumption of goods and services as consumers may feel that they are not financially stable or the current economic situation is not conducive to spending. Consumers may thus save more money. If consumers spend less then a decrease in real GDP will occur as consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the GDP. The PCE measures the total spending on goods and services by consu...