Published: September 01, 2009 05:29 pm      

Economy shows improvement

Things are looking up on the local economic front.

The July unemployment rate for Kokomo dropped to 16 percent from June’s 20 percent high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Howard County, the jobless rate fell from 19.7 percent in June to 14.7 percent in July.

Cass County also saw improvement. Unemployment slipped to 12.9 percent in July from June’s 14 percent.

Of course, there are also some negatives.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that household income in the United States were essentially stagnant, raising doubts about whether consumers already hurt by job losses could sustain the recovery.

The now-ended Cash for Clunkers program helped lift consumer spending in July and is expected to deliver an even bigger boost in August. But economists fear the rebound will falter if shoppers lack the income to spend more in the long run.

Consumer spending drives about 70 percent of economic activity — more than for most European nations and well above the rates in developing countries such as China.

And that purchasing power has taken a real hit. Roughly 6.7 million jobs have vanished since the recession began in December 2007, and companies also have cut costs by asking workers to take unpaid days off or to work only part time.

And some consumers have cut back spending because their pay hasn’t kept pace with expenses or because they’re saving more or paying down debt.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that personal incomes were unchanged in July, the eighth month in the past 10 in which incomes have fallen or stayed the same.

Still, economists have been revising their growth forecasts higher for the current quarter ending this month. Many analysts say recent data suggest an end to the recession this quarter, and some are projecting that growth will remain above 3 percent in the final three months of the year.

The economy still has a ways to go, and we won’t see dramatic improvement overnight. But there are signs that the worst is behind us.



– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune