7/6/2023 0 Comments Daves soda pet city![]() ![]() So the economy has suffered all the downside, while the upside has yet to appear, said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust. The lag means that the oil companies’ cutbacks have yet to be offset by greater retail spending. This has led to layoffs, tighter budgets and fewer orders for equipment, all which hurt growth.Ĭonsumers, by contrast, have yet to respond to their savings from cheaper gasoline by spending much more. The number of active rigs has fallen 50 percent since October, according to Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company. When oil prices plunge and billions of dollars are at stake, oil companies tend to respond quickly to curb production. This means wells are pumping out smaller profits, if not losses. “They’re all dealing with the pain.”Ī barrel of crude oil costs under $50, having more than halved in price since June. “It’s not just me selling into Europe - it’s all of my clients selling into Europe,” said Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel. Which is why Maryland-based Marlin Steel has held off on plans to hire more metal workers. economy’s very strength has helped create a weakness. factories are about 20 percent costlier in Europe than a year ago, an increase that has dampened sales. factories are now at a disadvantage: America’s relative health has helped drive up the dollar’s international value. economy has fared better than its trade partners, U.S. factories ship their wares around the world. Still, Swonk cautions that weather explains “some but not all” of the disappointing growth. It would mean that the economy remains fundamentally healthy - something that would become evident once the clouds lift and the sun emerges in spring.Īnd that would be exactly what occurred last year. If weather was a culprit, it might actually be an encouraging fact. “Losses to construction and some moderation in retail hiring relative to last year suggest unusually harsh winter weather played some role in explaining the weakness,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Retail sales fell in January and February. Shoppers skipped visits to the mall and auto dealers, choosing instead to crank up the thermostat. The snowfall and frigid temperatures that lingered until the closing days of March can freeze economic growth.Ĭonstruction crews built fewer homes: On a seasonally adjusted basis, builders broke ground on 17 percent fewer homes between January and February. economy isn’t accelerating as you might expect.įor parts of the United States, it felt like endless winter. Here are five factors that help explain why the U.S. After all, they reason, March may prove to be a hiccup akin to what happened in 2014, when a first-quarter slump was followed by a burst of growth in the ensuing months. Others are holding to their projections about the economy as it theoretically should be. Now, some analysts are pointing to factors that might have been downplayed or overlooked this year. A long-awaited breakout remains elusive, suggesting that the economy’s direction has never been quite as simple as some analysts, politicians and bar stool philosophers would have it. Yet nearly six years into the recovery from the Great Recession, the economy’s muddled progress seems inescapable. Some of the first quarter’s slowdown is no doubt due to an especially harsh winter. During the first three months of the year, the Atlanta Federal Reserve forecasts that the economy actually came to a standstill - failing to grow at all. The middling gains confirm evidence elsewhere of a broad economic slowdown. Had Friday’s report been released a few days earlier, “it would have been laughed at as a great April Fools’ joke,” said Gregory Daco, head of U.S. ![]()
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