1. In your team’s opinion, have we recovered from the economic recession based on the economic video? Site the indicators related to your opinion.
As of 2015, the U.S. is now expanding six years into recovery after the “Great Recession” of 2008-2009. Today’s current economy is in better condition than previous years based on evaluating GDP and labor markets on a national sense, but there is still much room for improvement even as the economy approaches the 100% mark from what it had lost. Consumers comprise about 70% of the economy and their households were heavily impacted on capital spending and employment conditions. Their spending was cut back immensely when the recession occurred, but in recent years consumers have steadily felt more comfortable getting back into the market. The growth is apparent but the amount they are spending has not yet matched to how it was pre-recession. Additionally, households are still recovering from a weak financial portfolio, with many only claiming their house as their largest asset value. The business sector also shows accelerated progress towards nearing full recovery, as companies are increasing investments and expenditures with more consumers back on the market. Industries across the board are adding about an average of 200,000 jobs per month, which has helped recuperate the high unemployment rates in the years after the recession. But this indicator signals that unemployment rates are close, but not yet back to normalcy because a large portion of the jobs that were lost occurred in professional white-collar positions. While nearly all jobs have been replenished by 2015, a significant amount of jobs added back were entry-level positions. Part-time employment rates are at an all-time high and it is unclear when the gap between entry-level positions and occupations requiring degrees will be minimized back to the normal