Jobs, Economist | featured news

The U.S. job market is flagging, and consumer prices are barely rising. The picture sketched by data released Thursday has made some economists predict the Federal Reserve will announce some new step next week to boost the economy.

Economists think some of the missing workers have retired, have entered college or are getting by on government disability checks.

The gross domestic product number came in at a rather soft 2% growth, up slightly from last quarter’s 1.7%. From the standpoint of creating new jobs, 2% just doesn’t cut it. We need about 100,000 to 125,000 new jobs a month just to keep up with population growth and a 2% GDP will not give us half that, as we saw last quarter. Most economists say you need about 3.5% GDP growth to get solid job reports.

Two Americans and a British-Cypriot economist have won a Nobel prize for a theory that helps explain why many people can remain unemployed despite a large number of job vacancies.

Economists had expected the snowstorms to have a bigger impact, but job losses were surprisingly mild in February as employers cut 36,000 jobs.

In a report to be released Friday, Harvard and USC economists say legislation being considered would slow cost increases and free up money for companies to raise wages and hire more workers.

National healthcare legislation in Congress could slow the growth of medical costs, allowing employers to create 250,000 to 400,000 new jobs a year over the next decade, economists from Harvard University and USC are predicting.