During the 2012 Presidential campaign President Obama said, “The private sector is doing fine,” which was immediately jumped on by his erstwhile opponent Republican Tea Party (GOTP) 2012 presidential footnote, Willard Mitt Romney, who replied, “I think he’s really defining what it means to be out of touch with reality.”
Now of course we know what happened in November, Romney had his political head handed to him on a plate, and the GOTP lost seats in both the House and the Senate, and conservatives still continue to claim the economy is failing. Some people either don’t get it, or won’t get it.
Clearly the economy is in recovery and the following indicators show the private sector is indeed “doing fine”, and all the info – by-the-way – comes from FOX Business:
First Quarter reported earnings: 3M reported $7.6 billion, Amazon reported $16.07 billion, AT&T reported $31.4 billion, Bank of America reported $23.7 billion, Boeing reported $18.9 billion, Caterpillar reported $13.21 billion, ExxonMobile reported $108.81 billion, Facebook reported $1.458 billion, Goldman Sachs reported $10.09 billion, Google reported $13.97 billion, Intel reported $12.6 billion, IBM posted $23.4 billion, Johnson & Johnson reported $17.5 billion, Morgan Stanley reported $8.5 billion, Netflix reported $1.02 billion, Pfizer revealed $13.5 billion, United technologies reported $14.4 billion, UPS reported $13.43 billion, Verizon reported $29.4 billion with Yahoo reported $1.07 billion.
In the second quarter the following earnings were reported by the private sector: Apple reported $43.6 billion and Walt Disney Co. reported $10.55 billion
Following are third quarter: Cisco posted $12.2 billion and Procter & Gamble posted $20.6 billion
Budget Deficit:
The U.S. federal budget surplus came in at $112.9 billion in April, up from $59 billion in the same month in 2012. The government is running a $488 billion deficit for fiscal 2013, down from $720 billion in a comparable period in fiscal 2012.
Consumer Confidence:
The Conference Board’s gauge of U.S. consumer confidence jumped to 68.1 in April from 61.9 in March, easily topping economists’ estimates of 60.8.
Consumer Sentiment:
A final reading on consumer sentiment for this month rose to 76.4 from an earlier reading of 72.3, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan. Sentiment was expected to make a smaller gain to 73.2.
Consumer spending:
Consumer spending inched up 0.2% in March from February, beating expectations for spending to hold steady for the month. Personal income increased 0.2% on the same basis, falling short of estimates of a 0.4% rise.
Economy Expanding:
The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized pace of 2.5% in the first quarter, up from 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to a preliminary estimate from the Commerce Department. Economists expected the world’s biggest economy to grow at a pace of 3.0% in the first three months of 2013.
Home Prices:
Home prices in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas climbed 0.3% in February from January on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, beating expectations of a gain of 0.2%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller report. Prices rose 9.3% from the same month in 2012, also topping forecasts of a 9% advance.
Home Sales (new single-family homes):
Sales of new, U.S. single-family homes ticked up 1.5% in March from February to a 417,000-unit annualized rate, falling short of the 420,000-unit rate analysts were expecting.
Home Sales (Pending):
U.S. pending home sales increased 1.5% in March from February, slightly topping forecasts of a 1.0% increase, according to The National Association of Realtors. Contracts to purchase previously-owned U.S. homes are up 7.0% from the same month in 2012.
Housing Starts:
U.S. housing starts jumped 7% in March from February to an annualized 1.03 million-unit rate, easily beating expectations of 930,000. Permits dropped 3.9% for the month to an annualized rate of 902,000 units, falling short of forecasts of 940,000 units.
Inflation:
Inflation at the consumer level fell 0.2% in March from February, compared to expectations of no change. Excluding the food and energy components, prices were up 0.1%, a slightly shallower rise than the 0.2% increase economists forecast. The headline reading climbed 1.5% from the year prior in the smallest year-to-year increase since July 2012.
Nonfarm Payrolls:
The Labor Department reports nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in April from March, beating expectations of 145,000. The unemployment rate ticked down to 7.5% from 7.6% for the month, the lowest level since December 2008. Economists expected the rate to hold steady. March’s nonfarm payroll increase was also revised up to 138,000 from a previously reported 88,000.
PMI Gauge:
The Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing PMI came in at 50.7 in April. Readings above 50 point to expansion while those below indicate contraction.
Private Sector Jobs:
The ADP National Employment Report shows the private sector added 119,000 jobs in April.
Retail Sales:
U.S. retail sales rose 0.1% in April from March, beating expectations for sales to fall 0.3%. Excluding the auto segment, sales were down 0.1%, matching expectations.
Trade Gap:
The U.S. trade gap slimmed to $38.8 billion in March from $43.6 billion in February, coming in considerably narrower than estimates of $42 billion. The measure figures into first-quarter gross domestic product.
Unemployment:
New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 339,000 during the week ending 19 Apr 13 – from an upwardly revised 355,000 the week prior. Claims were expected to fall to 351,000 from an initially reported 352,000.
New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 324,000 for the week ending 26 Apr 13 from an upwardly revised 342,000 the week prior. Claims were expected to fall to 345,000 from an initially reported 339,000.
The Labor Department reports new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 323,000 last week ending 3 May 13 from an upwardly-revised 327,000 the week prior. Claims were expected to rise to 335,000 from an initially-reported 324,000.
Stock Market was 8077.56 on 19 Jan 09 and 15,275.69 on 15 May 13.
So, let’s see, even though the 2012 GOTP presidential footnote claimed President Obama was defining what it meant to be “out of touch with reality” it appears it was he – Willard Mitt Romney, and the entire corps of conservative talking heads – who have defined it.
The Liberty Tree 