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A record 94,708,000 Americans were not in the labor force in May -- 664,000 more than in April -- and the labor force participation rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 62.6 percent, near its 38-year low.
A study by economists from Harvard and Princeton indicates that 94% of the 10 million new jobs created during the Obama era were temporary, contract positions, or part-time "gig" jobs..Female workers suffered most heavily.
In 2020, the average national cost for health insurance is $456 for an individual and $1,152 for a family per month.
Did you know that having health insurance when you can afford it is the law?...choose not to get it for 2016, you may be required to pay a fee (2.5% of yearly household income Maximum: Total yearly premium for the national average price of a Bronze plan sold through the Marketplace)…when you file your 2016 federal income taxes.
As Gas Prices Soar, White House Doubles Down On Green New Deal
"Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule" (AFFH)... "ruse for social engineering under the guise of desegregation -- essentially turning HUD into a national zoning board."…"Of course,...[Democrats] want suburban votes. What they're a little less eager to have understood is they consider suburbs...fundamentally unjust."
"As soon as Dem-ocrats regain control of the Presidency and the Congress, Court-packing will be on the agenda, either expressly or under the guise of Court-reform. Now is the time for the American legal academy to join together to oppose this threat. Court-packing would threaten democracy, destroy the rule of law and undermine judi-cial independence. "
Congressional Democrats released a detailed tax hike plan that they promised to implement if given majority control of the House and Senate after the 2018 midterm elections…Democrats want to raise taxes not to reduce the debt, but rather to spend that tax hike money on boondoggle projects.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken socialist, beat 10-term…Joe Crowley…She's also a vocal advocate of "Medicare for All" -- a government takeover of America's healthcare system…In reality, health care doesn't magically become free; people just pay for it outside the doctor's office, in the form of higher taxes…Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for all" plan would boost government health spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years…
The U.S. lost 5 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2014, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro blamed…Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's China… our blue-collar workers just getting hammered… "We lost over 70,000 factories, over 5 million manufacturing jobs, and it was because Joe Biden likes made in China,"
The IRS is working on implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This major tax legislation will affect individuals, businesses, tax exempt and government entities.
There is a distinct pattern throughout American history: When tax rates are reduced, the economy's growth rate improves and living standards increase. Good tax policy has a number of interesting side effects. For instance, history tells us that tax revenues grow and "rich" taxpayers pay more tax when marginal tax rates are slashed. This means lower income citizens bear a lower share of the tax burden - a consequence that should lead class-warfare politicians to support lower tax rates.
Conversely, periods of higher tax rates are associated with sub par economic performance and stagnant tax revenues. In other words, when politicians attempt to "soak the rich," the rest of us take a bath. Examining the three major United States episodes of tax rate reductions can prove useful lessons.
“Our economic policy can be summed up in three very simple, but beautiful words: jobs, jobs, jobs,”...
For the first time on record, the number of job openings in the United States exceeds the number of unemployed Americans — a trend that may soon give workers more leverage for pay raises.
The number of available jobs in April rose 1 percent to 6.7 million from 6.6 million in March, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's the most since records began in December 2000.
Steady economic growth has encouraged employers to step up hiring. That helped lower the unemployment rate in May to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. Faster consumer spending is expected to lift economic growth above a 3 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, after growth had lagged slightly in the first three months of the year.
At the peak of the recession, there were, on average, 6.7 unemployed people for each job. Now, that figure has fallen to just 0.95 per opening.
DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) said on Thursday it will shift production of Ram heavy-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to Michigan in 2020, a move that lowers the risk to the automaker’s profit should President Donald Trump pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Fiat Chrysler said it would create 2,500 jobs at a factory in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit and invest $1 billion in the facility. The Mexican plant will be “repurposed to produce future commercial vehicles” for sale global markets. Mexico has free trade agreements with numerous countries.
Dearborn — Ford Motor Co. will invest $1.2 billion in three Michigan factories to prepare for production of the all-new Ford Ranger and Bronco, and to support the company’s expansion into mobility.
The investments represent two strategies going forward: a traditional game plan that looks to create new models of high-demand trucks and SUVs; and a more forward-looking investment in the self-driving and connected vehicles that Ford and other companies are betting will drive the future.
General Motors Co. announced Tuesday it will add or retain 7,000 U.S. jobs in the next few years and invest $1 billion in U.S. plants, including in Michigan. The plant investments will create or retain more than 1,500 jobs,though GM would not say how many would be new.
The automaker said it expects more than 5,000 salaried jobs will come in key growth areas such as with its subsidiary GM Financial and in advanced technology. The announcement comes three days before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. He has pressured automakers to add jobs and work in the U.S.
Unemployment rates among black people and Hispanics in the U.S. hit record lows last month amid a widespread tightening of the labor market.
Black unemployment fell to 6.6 percent in April, the lowest in data dating back to 1972, while the jobless rate among Hispanics dipped to 4.8 percent, matching the lowest on record, Labor Department figures showed Friday. Black and Hispanic jobless rates are generally more volatile than the overall unemployment figure, which fell below 4 percent last month for the first time since 2000.
Young women looking for work have been increasingly succeeding in recent years, and so much over the past year-and-a-half that America hasn’t seen unemployment numbers this low since the 1950s.
Average unemployment over the 18 months ending July dropped to 7.9 percent for women aged 16-24. That’s the lowest since April 1956, when Americans saw the very first episode of “As the World Turns.”
Consumer spending propelled U.S. economic growth to a 4.1% pace in the second quarter, the fastest since 2014, letting President Donald Trump claim a win for his policies even though most analysts see the high as temporary.
The annualized rate of gains in gross domestic product was just shy of the 4.2% median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. It followed first-quarter growth of 2.2% that was revised from 2%, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Consumer spending grew 4%, more than estimated, while non-residential business investment climbed at a 7.3% clip.
Nevertheless, the score card gives Trump a chance to highlight the success of his policies, including the biggest tax overhaul since the Reagan era, which probably boosted consumer spending and business investment.
Wall Street got fresh proof that stock market bull markets don’t die of old age.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, a broad gauge of the U.S. stock market, hit a fresh all-time high Tuesday, topping its prior January 26 peak of 2872.87.
"As along as the U.S. economy is strong and growing, the job market is stable and growing, and corporate earnings are strong and growing, the market should be and will continue to be strong," says Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial in Richmond, Virginia.
401(k) investors that have investments in index funds that track the S&P 500 have been rewarded handsomely both in 2018 and during the bull market. A person that invested $100,000 in the broad market index at the market low on March 9, 2009, would now be sitting on a paper profit of more than $320,000. A $100,000 investment in the S&P 500 at the start of this year would now be worth $107,500.
The ACA's individual mandate penalty, which used to be collected by the IRS on federal tax returns, was reduced to $0 after the end of 2018. In most states, people who have been uninsured since 2019 are no longer assessed a penalty.
President Donald Trump took historic action to deliver lower prescription drug prices to American patients...The executive orders instruct HHS to:
End a shadowy system of kickbacks by middlemen...; Require federally qualified health centers who purchase insulins and epinephrine in the 340B program to pass the savings...on to medically underserved patients...; a rule allowing states to develop safe importation plans for certain prescription drugs...; Authorize the re-importation of insulin products made in the United States if the Secretary finds re-importation is required for emergency medical care...; Take action to ensure that the Medicare program and seniors pay no more for the most costly Medicare Part B drugs than any economically comparable OECD country.
Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update
Inflation and Consumer Spending
What's happening
- WHITE HOUSE
Biden’s approval rating as seen by several polling authorities
President Biden has become the great divider