WATCH: Biden says he's leaving economy 'stronger than ever' for Americans as his term nears end
www.pbs.org
President Joe Biden lauded his administration’s record on the economy after the labor department reported Friday a surge in job growth and decline in unemployment last month.

Summary

President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s economic record, citing consistent job growth and a 2.7% inflation rate drop from its 2022 peak.

December’s jobs report showed 256,000 new jobs and declining unemployment, signaling steady economic growth.

However, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and interest rates remain high, impacting homebuyers and businesses.

Public pessimism lingers on affordability as Biden passes a largely strong economy to his successor, Donald Trump.

  • BestBouclettes@jlai.lu
    23·
    2 months ago

    That’s what happens when the economic wellbeing of a country is based upon numbers on computers instead of the actual wellbeing of its population. Fuck neoliberalism.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      I dont see how we can’t actually quantify economic wellbeing, but I dont know of a unit for this.

      Like we need something that takes into account wealth disparity. If your GDP goes up 5,000% and all that wealth goes into the pocket of a few people, the unit that measures economic welfare should be very low.

        • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          I looked at the article, but I have no idea what “0.689” means.

          What’s the unit abbreviation?

          What does a high number mean? What does a low number mean?

          • Sami@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            Im not sure about the calculations for that specific value but the Gini coefficient itself is an index between 0 and 1 where 0 is no inequality and 1 is maximum inequality.

            The index in the link I provided is also between 0 and 1 where the value for one country is only comparable to that of other countries. The higher the number the better but again not sure what the exact components are as it was just an example of quanitifying inequality.

            • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
              0·
              2 months ago

              Yeah, thats not an alternative to GDP then.

              Like, if everyone in the country earns $1 per day and the cost of living is $2 per day, the gini is good but the economy is still shit

              We need some unit that actually measures if an economy is doing well

              • Sami@lemmy.zipEnglish
                1·
                2 months ago

                I imagine this measurement is probably adjusted for PPP (purchase power parity). Going from comparing the GDP per capita to a PPP and Gini adjusted GDP per capita (like what that index likely does) should be what you’re getting at. Otherwise, there’s HDI (human development index) also mentioned in the wiki that goes beyond monetary value.

      • brlemworld@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 months ago

        Average savings rate, average credit card debt, number of homeowners, college enrollment rates, average net worth. Lots of measures that the news and politicians ignore.