Bush Economy Continues to Surge

Economy Watch …

Hiring, Paychecks Up Strongly In December

The Associated Press: "Employers Boosted Hiring And Fattened Workers' Paychecks In December." "Ending 2006 on a positive note, employers boosted hiring and fattened workers' paychecks in December, capping a year in which the country's unemployment rate averaged a six-year low of 4.6 percent. … Employers added 167,000 new jobs to their payrolls in December, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.5 percent." (Jeannine Aversa, "Good News On Jobs: Hiring, Paychecks Up Strongly In December," The Associated Press, 1/5/07)

Ø "Paychecks Grew Briskly Last Month." "Workers, many of whom had seen their pay eaten by inflation, saw their average hourly earnings jump to $17.04 in December, a 0.5 percent rise from the prior month. Over the past 12 months, wages grew by a strong 4.2 percent, a gain last exceeded in November 2000. Wages are now growing faster than consumer prices, which should leave people with more money to spend. That's good for workers and for the economy because consumer spending is a big force driving overall economic activity." (Jeannine Aversa, "Good News On Jobs: Hiring, Paychecks Up Strongly In December," The Associated Press, 1/5/07)

Ø "The Job Hunt Got Shorter In December." "The average time that the 6.8 million unemployed people spent in their job searches was 15.9 weeks, the shortest in more than four years. The unemployment rate for blacks dropped to 8.4 percent in December, the best showing in more than five years. The rate for Hispanics dipped to 4.9 percent, a two-month low." (Jeannine Aversa, "Good News On Jobs: Hiring, Paychecks Up Strongly In December," The Associated Press, 1/5/07)

National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard: "The Economy Is Going To Continue To Be Strong. ... Wages Are Going Up." "We've had great productivity growth during this Administration. I think we've averaged over 3 percent since the President's been in office. This gives companies plenty of room to increase wages, and we're delighted that real wage growth has started being realized for the American worker. And this always happens later in an economic expansion, and we expect it to continue." (Bloomberg's "Bloomberg On The Markets," 1/5/07)

OMB Director Rob Portman: "We Think [The Economy] Is On A Sound Footing." "If you look at the predictions from the private sector, from the forecasters, they're generally good. Our own predictors within the Federal government – which is the Treasury Department, our Office of Management and Budget, and the Council of Economic Advisers – shows steady growth next year. It also shows steady revenue growth – not to the level we've had in the last couple of years, our projections, I think, are relatively conservative, but it does show steady revenue growth, which helps us to be able to get the budget deficit down and eventually to balance the budget." (Bloomberg's "Marketline," 1/5/07)