The number of jobs in April were up 2.6 percent over last year, but many of the gains were recovery jobs, not new ones. The real pace of new job creation may be closer to 1.5 percent.
The growth of jobs in business services, normally well above total job growth, has steadily decreased in recent months - an indication that "real" current job growth is very low.
Home prices in the fourth quarter were up 12 percent from a year earlier. The rapid rate at which the boom is deflating means prices in many local markets will be lower this year, with more decreases in 2024.
The price of energy has fallen back to levels before the war in Ukraine, around $80 a barrel. This may be due to lower demand as world economies face difficulties, but will help ease inflation.
Home sales prices in the South Atlantic region - which includes Florida - seem to have topped out. This has been the strongest real estate market in the country. Prices in all other areas of the country also have peaked.
Although jobs have grown well in the past year, they're only slightly higher than the level right before the pandemic, nearly three years ago. We may still be in a recovery phase rather than seeing real economic growth.
Although more people have jobs, the output of the economy in the past year has stayed pretty much the same, so output per employee has dropped. Job data may not be the best measure of how well the economy is doing.
GDP in the third quarter was up slightly from the second quarter and almost the same as at the end of 2021. Compared to just before the pandemic, almost three years ago, GDP was up 4.2 percent.
