While the official unemployment rate may have held steady, of greater significance is the fact that the real unemployment rate increased again in February.
While it’s great that American consumers have been able to take advantage of the government’s cash-for-clunkers program, the heralded program may actually end up doing more harm to the economy than help.
We can hope that the economy will be in full recovery mode by early 2010, but many economists believe that is unlikely. Without a recovery in consumer spending, revenues will continue to decline and companies will need to look at making more cost cutting initiatives. This could lead to potentially more layoffs in 2010 as companies try to deliver better than expected earnings performances by reducing their cost structure.
The recovery in the real estate markets is now being heralded by financial pundits everywhere. So how can investors capitalize on the recovery in the real estate markets?
July auto sales were released yesterday and one clear theme that comes across is that Americans are now looking to buy cheaper foreign cars. Auto sales for Hyundai, Kia and Subaru soared in July while the only other manufacturer to post a growth in sales was Ford (which managed only a 3% increase).
It seems as though the ultra-rich have not lost their appetite for buying expensive cars. Ferrari was the only manufacturer to post sales growth in November with 137 new Ferrari’s sold compared to the 133 last year.