(Omaha) Creighton University Economics Professor Dr. Ernie Goss says the economy is treading water and moving down. He says the employment index was below growth neutral for the month. Overall, manufacturing is moving sideways, not hiring and losing employment.
Dr. Goss says the ag sector is even worse. For the third time in the last four months, farmland prices have fallen below growth neutral. Agricultural commodity prices, particularly grain prices, significantly pull down farm income. Corn is below four dollars, soybeans are below ten dollars, and wheat is below six dollars.
Investors are paying close attention to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at 9:00 a.m. on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for insight on interest rate cuts because we defeated inflation. Dr. Goss disagrees. He says the country needs a rate cut because the nation’s economy is slowing down significantly, with rising unemployment rates, from 3.7 percent in January to 4.7 percent in July.
Dr. Goss says 20 percent of the U.S. population is doing just fine. The remaining 80 percent are not doing so well. He says they struggle to pay for homes, maintenance, and insurance.
Monday Morning News
