Da Lair 666

[la_trader]

Depends what you choose to look at. have to break a few eggs to make a nice omelet.

Check this out for a rather decent overall "score card":
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19bgg41HsvQtg9WDMP-3EGXgFXRQIwm_b4JCD76HqtQA/edit#gid=0

GDP Growth
The first estimate for June quarter’s GDP growth was released Friday morning, showing growth of 4.1%. This was a solid increase from the 2.2% first quarter print, but a little short of most projections.

Unemployment rate is getting about as low as it can go
The unemployment rate hit a high of 10% in October 2009 around the depth of the Great Recession, and it declined seven consecutive years during Obama’s presidency. It has continued this downtrend trend and hit a low of 3.8% in May this year before inching up to 4% in June.

Job growth continues its five year trend
With 1.29 million jobs added in the first six months this year, the country is on pace to exceed 2016 and 2017 figures. It could be difficult to exceed 2015’s 2.71 million due to the challenges companies have finding people with the right skills. Additionally, the administration’s tightening immigration policy could put a damper on not just having enough people for organizations to hire, but also having the people with the right talents and expertise.

Hourly wages trending up but still below expectations
Hourly wages have moved up from the 2% zone during 2009- 2014 to the 2.5% to 2.9% range the past three-plus years. One reason they haven’t moved higher (as many have expected they should due to the tight labor market) may be due to higher paid individuals leaving the workforce who are then replaced by newer entrants at lower wages.

Manufacturing jobs are on the rebound
In the first half of this year, there have been 174,000 manufacturing jobs added. This is almost as many as any full year over the past decade and should easily surpass any added during Obama’s administration as the economy recovered from the Great Recession.

Coal jobs have halted their downward trend
At its recent peak in 2011, there were 89,400 people employed in the coal industry, declining to 49,700 in 2016. There are now over 162 million people employed in the civilian labor force and almost 3.5 million jobs have been created since 2016. Over the same 18-month time-frame, the coal industry has added 3,500 jobs for a total of 53,200, making up 0.033% of the U.S. total workforce.

Housing prices have risen over the past 6 years
Housing prices fell and then were flat from 2008 to 2012 as the Great Recession hit this segment of the economy very hard. Since March 2012, per the Case-Schiller 20-city composite index, it has been on a steady upwards climb. This has continued during Trump’s time in office with the latest reading showing a 6.5% year-over-year increase.