There is really not much to say other than this is as dismal as it gets. Energy prices seems to be the main culprit most business economists are citing but I think it has a lot to do with all of the drastic cutting going on in the states. Just as fiscal stimulus can help bump aggregate demand and stimulate the economy, states cutting back can depress aggregate demand and depress the economy.
Maybe now the folks in Washington can start to focus on jobs again and stop spending all their energy on the debt.
Update: It turns out David Leonhardt beat me to it - he makes the same point about state austerity. We have lost about a million jobs due to state and local government cutbacks.
1 comment:
What do you think of the argument that there was no stimulus due to state/local government cuts happening at the same time?
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