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      U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the February jobs report

      The Really Great February Jobs Report

      If wage growth is now more or less in line with the 2% target, then the Fed can hold off on further rate hikes.

      Dean Baker
      Mar 12, 2023

      The failure of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday overtook the really big event of the day, the February jobs report. The 311,000 jobs were far more than I had expected. I thought the huge January number was a fluke of seasonal adjustments and unusually good winter weather. For that reason, I expected the February number to be very weak, not because I thought the labor market had crashed, but just as a correction to the high number in January.

      I was wrong in a very big way. The January number was obviously real and the economy is still creating jobs at a very rapid clip.

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      Opinion
      silicon valley bank
      Demonstrators protest against high drug prices

      Recession Fears Spark Calls to Stop Hiking Interest Rates and Rein In Corporate Greed

      "As Americans stare down the abyss of a potential recession, Fortune 500 c-suite executives are doing better than ever," noted one critic, "while their workers' wages have severely lagged behind."

      Jessica Corbett
      Jul 28, 2022

      As new government data on Thursday stoked fears of a looming recession--and even led to some claims that the nation is already experiencing one--progressives renewed calls for the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates and policymakers to take on the corporate profiteering driving inflation.

      "Reining in corporate greed is the key to bringing down costs for families and kickstarting economic growth."

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      The Booming Economy and Debt and Deficit Fears

      The Booming Economy and Debt and Deficit Fears

      In short, it doesn't seem like the deficit hawks have much of a case.

      Dean Baker
      May 31, 2021

      Most of the data on the economy is looking very good these days. The number of weekly unemployment claims has fallen sharply. Levels are still high, but just over half the level we were seeing earlier this year. And, this is before all the moves by Republican governors to cut back benefits, so the decline reflects the availability of jobs, not more stringent eligibility.

      Consumer spending has been rising rapidly, with the March and April levels both above where they were before the pandemic. Even restaurant sales have largely recovered. Adjusted for inflation, the April levels were just 2.7 percent below where they were in February, 2020.

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      Opinion
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