Bernstein Research estimates that these unsold houses will take four to five years to clear, and even that may be too optimistic given high unemployment, the threat of a sovereign-debt crisis and fewer immigrants.
Just like a year ago, promotions and discounts remain crucial given the high unemployment rate and tight household budgets.
And that presents a chicken-or-egg problem given that high unemployment is the key driver of economy uncertainty, especially among small business owners.
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And conditions are still far from good, given high rates of unemployment.
But, having said that, what I emphasize today is we cannot sit back and be satisfied, given the extraordinarily high unemployment levels that we've seen.
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Given South Africa's high unemployment, unskilled workers are easy to replace, but skilled and semi-skilled workers are not.
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These latter measures are a response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis, but right now, given the very high levels of unemployment in parts of Europe, it is crucial that there be no further additions to the regulatory burden.
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Nominal wage inflation remains very low, as companies sit on vast piles of cash but remain reluctant to spend, and there is still a large amount of slack in the U.S. economy, particularly given a stubbornly high rate of unemployment stuck at 9%.
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"Given the continuing high levels of unemployment, we can expect little to no impact on small business wages and employment levels from the return of the employee payroll tax to its previous level, " said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the indexes.
While most believe an extension is likely, particularly given weakening economic growth and persistently high unemployment, nothing is certain.
Given the many economic headwinds facing the U.S. economy (high unemployment, low consumer spending, increasing commodity prices and the fear of tightening credit given the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe to name a few) prospects for increased corporate earnings stemming from increased sales seem difficult.
Obviously, the Fed can never run out of money, and given that we currently have low inflation and high unemployment, it can and should print more of it.
Meanwhile, high unemployment, weak income growth and a still-moribund housing market have given consumers little ability to step up their spending.
The popping of an unsustainable housing bubble, high unemployment in the first two years of the Obama administration and overall wealth destruction have given American voters a good reason to wonder if Obama can lead the country to green pastures in four more years.
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