"jps" wrote in message
...

Despite the gain in jobs, total hours worked declined as the average
workweek fell to 33.7 hours.

So? I work 32 hours/week. So does one of my assistants, my hygienist, and
my receptionist. We could work Fridays, but I choose not to.




The decline in the labor force participation rate, a consequence of
the shrinkage in well-paying jobs, masks a higher rate of unemployment
than the reported 5 percent.

The ratio of employment to population fell again in November.

Average hourly earnings (up 3.2 percent over the last year) are not
keeping up with the consumer price index (up 4.3 percent).

Consequently, real incomes are falling.

This is not the picture of a healthy economy in which growth in high
productivity, high value-added jobs fuel the growth in consumer demand
and provide savings to finance Washington's red ink.

What we are looking at is an economy that is coming unglued from the
loss of jobs that provide ladders of upward mobility and from massive
trade and budget deficits that are resulting in unsustainable growth
in indebtedness to foreigners.

The consumer price index measures inflation at 4.3 percent over the
past year.

Many people, experiencing household budgets severely impacted by fuel
prices and grocery bills, find this figure unrealistically low.

PNC Financial Services has a Christmas price index consisting of the
gifts in the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas."

The index reports that the cost of the collection of gifts has risen 6
percent since last Christmas.

Some of the gifts have risen substantially in price.

Gold rings are up 27.5 percent, and pear trees are up 15.4 percent.

The cost of labor (drummers drumming, maids-a-milking) has remained
the same.

Populations are hard pressed when the prices of goods rise relative to
the price of labor, because this makes it impossible for the
population to maintain its standard of living.

The US economy has been kept alive by low interest rates, which fueled
a real estate boom.

True.


Consumers have kept growth alive by refinancing their home mortgages
and spending the equity in their houses.

True.


Their indebtedness has risen.

Their net worth has risen too.



Debt-fueled growth is qualitatively different from economic growth
that results from an increase in high value-added jobs.

Not true. Spending, whether via cash or debt, leads to more jobs to service
the spending habits of the consumer.



Economists who look at the 3+ percent economic growth rate and
conclude that things are fine are fooling themselves and the public.

The growth rate is better than 4%. Where is he getting that number from?



When the real estate boom ends, what will be the source of new
spending power?


The stock market. As the housing market has cooled over the last two
months, the market has risen nearly 8%.