Incomes Are What Matters, So Bad Month, Bad Year, Bad Decade

This is a syndicated repost courtesy of Alhambra Investments. To view original, click here. Reposted with permission.
Sometimes economics can be complicated, such as why the labor market has slowed in such lingering fashion since early 2015. Sometimes economics can be easy, such as why there is so much less to the economy this year than thought. The easy part relates to the hard part. The labor market slowed and so did national income. Though so much of official focus is on debt supplementation, it’s always, always about income.
Incomes are, like everything else, still growing but also like everything else it is not growth. In the 22 months starting with November 2015, Real Personal Income excluding Transfer Receipts is up 1.7% total, not per year. That’s an annual rate of less than 1%, qualifying for only the negative descriptions even though there’s that plus sign. In the 22 months prior ending in October 2015, Real Personal Income excluding Transfer Receipts was up nearly 9%, or an almost 5% at annual rate.

This post was published at Wall Street Examiner by Jeffrey P. Snider ‘ September 29, 2017.