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	<title>Econforecaster</title>
	
	<link>http://www.econforecaster.com</link>
	<description>Economic Commentary and Analysis from Jim Smith.</description>
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		<title>Good News on Employment at Last</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/GENiwmUJIfg/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2012/01/15/good-news-on-employment-at-last/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:15:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=738</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On January 6 the BLS gave us the best news on employment growth we’ve had in years. They said that nonfarm payroll employment rose by 200,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis from November to December. That brought the total gain in such jobs during 2011 to a total of 1,640,000. This number will probably [...]<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Consumers Made 2011 a Record Year for Retail Sales</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/1Rgp8_RPbRw/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2012/01/15/consumers-made-2011-a-record-year-for-retail-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:59:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=735</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On January 12 the Census Bureau gave us the preliminary (“Advance”) data for retail sales for December and the full year of 2011. They said total retail and food services sales were $4.7 trillion in 2011. That was a new record, up a big 7.7 percent from 2010. Total retail sales alone were $4.2 trillion, [...]<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Hip, Hip, Hooray!  Real GDP Finally Sets a New Record</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/FNC63gi9mfs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/10/30/hip-hip-hooray-real-gdp-finally-sets-a-new-record/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:48:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GDP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=730</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On October 27 BEA said that real GDP in the third quarter of 2011 was running at a SAAR of $13,352.8 billion. That finally exceeded the $13,326.0 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2007.<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Three Cheers for Congress</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/qxO_d7XnwzA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/10/15/three-cheers-for-congress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:57:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economic growth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WTO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=728</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[(That caught your eye, didn&#8217;t it?) Most of us who follow the progress (or lack thereof) of the US economy spend an inordinate amount of time bemoaning the latest example of Congress failing to do what was needed to improve economic growth prospects.  Thus, it only seems fair to take notice when they pass legislation [...]<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>We’ve Finally Entered Videoland</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/I3hY5Zsh_Zw/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/10/06/weve-finally-entered-videoland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:25:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Linda Topp</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=720</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Hey, look what I finally figured out how to do! It&#8217;s been difficult to get videos of Jim but the folks running the annual UNC-Asheville Crystal Ball record the event and I found a wonderful student who converted a few segments for YouTube. The other three segments can be found on YouTube under EconForecasterJSmith (or [...]<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Listen Up:  Small Businesses ARE the Job Engine!</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/lc1YbGmoGzA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/10/02/listen-up-small-businesses-are-the-job-engine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:28:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>dunkelberg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small businesses]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=718</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Reminder that Dr. Dunkelberg is the Chief Economist for the National Federation of Independent Business. A recent Bloomberg article entitled “Small-Business Job Engine Myth Hampers Effort to Lift Employment” (September 29) reports “..the notion that small business is the force prosperity is not true.”  The author cites statistics such as, “Hourly wages at the largest [...]<br/>
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		<title>A (Little) Good News from Our Government</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/vk-_NyBr1Ng/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/09/29/a-little-good-news-from-our-government/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:19:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GDP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=715</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On September 29 the BEA released its &#8220;Third Estimate&#8221; of GDP for the second quarter of 2011.  They told us that real GDP grew at a 1.3 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) then, more than triple the puny 0.4 percent at a SAAR pace of the first quarter.<br/>
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		<title>Less Is More, If “More” Government Is What Consumers &amp; Business Owners Fear</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/NH1JgxbJczs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/09/14/less-is-more-if-more-government-is-what-consumers-business-owners-fear/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:46:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>dunkelberg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consumer confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fiscal deficit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small businesses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimulus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=711</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Recent polls indicate that far more consumers are concerned about the level of our debt and deficits than they are about unemployment (perhaps because 9 of 10 people who want a job have one, but all 10 are concerned about the now-clearer implications of excessive spending and debt accumulation). So, it would seem to follow [...]<br/>
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		<title>The US Job Market Remains Very Active</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/2G9VzcMCj1w/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/09/08/the-us-job-market-remains-very-active/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:45:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civilian nonfarm payroll jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[employment data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JOLTS]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=707</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[The JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report that the BLS issued on September 7 showed that robust job activity continued in July.  On July 29, there were 3,228,000 job openings in the US.  The overwhelming majority (2,900,000) were in the private sector, but there were 328,000 government job openings, too.  Most of these [...]<br/>
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		<title>Very Good News from Consumers</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Econforecaster/~3/MnAN5OLCPOk/</link>
		<comments>http://www.econforecaster.com/economy/2011/08/13/very-good-news-from-consumers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:08:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econforecaster.com/?p=703</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[On August 12 the Census Bureau told us that total retail and food services sales for July were a seasonally adjusted record of $390.4 billion.  That was an increase of 0.5 percent from June (which itself was revised upward from a 0.1 to a 0.3 percent increase from May) and was 8.5 percent above July [...]<br/>
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