With statewide unemployment ( 3.5%) beating out the national rate ( 3.9%), earning the honor of sixth-best state to do business, according to 2018 Chief Executive rankings, and a solid 11th place among states with the most Fortune 1000 companies, Georgia is outshining the competition. Following the University of Georgia’s recent Georgia Economic Outlook forum, job growth is anticipated “in all of Georgia’s 14 metropolitan areas and in all of the state’s major industries.” A strong real estate market and the effects of federal tax cuts will push Georgia toward continued economic stability. The annual forecast for Georgia is slated to mirror national trends. Add 50-year low unemployment, the highest wage increases in a decade, robust manufacturing, healthy holiday spending, and Gross Domestic Product in the ideal 2.3 to 3 percent range, and you have a very positive financial outlook. That’s 9 percentage points higher than the previous eight. Nearly ten years ago creating a global shock waveon. The Fed’s decision to increase interest rates eight times in two years, up 400 percent over 2016, with two more hikes planned for 2019, is evidence that the national economy isn’t done growing.Įven in the face of the year-end stock swings of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average averaged a 19 percent return over the last two years. economy of the mid- to late-1990s was considered a Goldilocks economy because it was not too hot, not too cold, but just right’. Thornberg compared the economy to Goldilocks’ porridge. Low rates, like the 0.25 percent from 2008 to 2015, are signs of a poor economy. No end to this expansion in sight, despite all the insane headlines, Thorberg said at the start of his sixth annual South Bay Economic Forecast Report to the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce last Friday at Terranea Resort. The Federal Reserve Bank will increase or decrease federal interest rates in order to cool down or heat up the economy and control inflation. As a result of very low interest rates, non-existent inflation, and a rather weak dollar, the economy is in a sweet spot, a Goldilocks situation for corporations and wealthy families. One of the best insights into financial strength is the activity of the Fed. economy,” writes Caroline Baum of MarketWatch, “is not sending out alarm bells just yet.” By all major indicators, 2019 is slated to be “ a Goldilocks economy” - not too hot, not too cold.ĭespite talk of a recession due to some year-end turbulence in the stock market and fears of a prolonged trade war with China, “the U.S. Mark Whitehouse writes editorials on global economics and finance for Bloomberg Opinion.If you’re looking to start a business or just grow your investments, 2019 is the year to do it. It’s something Fed officials might want to keep in mind as they decide on the trajectory of interest rates. Whatever the reason, women’s willingness to rejoin the workforce raises a question for the Federal Reserve: What if they can keep going, reaching or even exceeding the 77-plus-percent participation rate achieved in the late 1990s? The added supply of labor could help keep wages in check, allowing the central bank to pursue a more stimulative monetary policy - and put more people back to work - without overheating the economy. Also, women might be more inclined to pursue the kinds of high-social-skill jobs - say, in education and health care - that an evolving economy increasingly generates. Men, by contrast, tend to leave the workforce because of illness or disability, situations that often can’t be reversed. For one, they tend to stay out of the labor force to handle domestic tasks such as caring for children or relatives - something they can pay others to do if the right job comes along. A Goldilocks economy describes an ideal state for an economy whereby the economy is not expanding or contracting by too much. JPM CEO wrote that the economy will likely 'boom' and we are looking at a 'Goldilocks moment'. It’s hard to know exactly why women have outperformed, but it’s possible to make some guesses. Jamie Dimon attracted a lot of attention last week with his annual shareholder letter. That’s up from 73.6 percent three years earlier - a change that, together with population growth, amounts to almost 400,000 added workers. The share of females aged 25 to 54 either working or seeking work, also known as the prime-age labor participation rate, averaged 75.4 percent in the three months through August.
Women have made by far the biggest contribution.
Why the disconnect? One explanation is that people who weren’t counted as unemployed, because they weren’t actively seeking work, are coming off the sidelines and taking the jobs on offer.