The Economy - Indiana's and The Country's

 From earlier in the week, Unemployment claims in Indiana increased last week:

Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Indiana rose last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased to 5,165 in the week ending December 9, up from 5,123 the week before, the Labor Department said.

U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 202,000 last week, down 19,000 claims from 221,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Then there was this yesterday, Indiana losing ground to average Midwesterners in real per capita personal income

Real per capita personal income is a measure used by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis to help compare how far a dollar goes across different states. And Indiana’s was ninth among 12 Midwest states in 2022, one place better than the previous year.

But the Hoosier State still trails the average of its Midwest neighbors — and that divide is growing.

Indiana’s real per capita personal income in 2022 was $54,811. Andrew Bradley, Prosperity Indiana policy director, said that trails the Midwest average by a wide margin.

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Bradley said there are things state lawmakers can do to address it. He said that includes improving Indiana’s housing situation by better enforcing safety and habitability standards.

“We’re starting to hear more conversation on both sides of the aisle than we have in the past,” Bradley said.

Bradley said the state should also cap payday lending rates at 36 percent, to help curb predatory lending and keep more money in Hoosiers’ pockets.

What I get between the two articles is Indiana's economy lies outside the mainstream of the country and the region. 

I read the following this Wednesday:

The U.S. Economy in Global Context 

The U.S. economy in 2023 outperformed expectations along three key dimensions: growing economic output, labor market resilience, and slowing inflation. This month, the IMF released its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), which provides an important occasion to consider U.S. economic performance in the context of the global outlook. The progress we have made on growth, labor markets, and inflation stands out across the globe, and remains an important source of strength for the global economy.  

The resilience of the entire global economy is a testament to the international cooperation and policy coordination that continues to help us recover from the pandemic. In particular, the U.S. policy environment is a clear contributor to U.S. economic performance. The Biden Administration’s focus on supply-side measures via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act is working to expand our productive capacity to create space for faster growth without stoking inflation. Indeed, the October 2023 WEO attributes the improved global outlook partly to the strength of the United States economy. Our supply-side investments are not just bolstering the U.S. economy but supporting the global economic outlook as well.

The good news is there’s still plenty of good news 

On January 19, 2021, the day before Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed at $30,930.52. On Friday, the Dow closed at an all-time high of $37,305.16. Now, the market doing well, and the economy doing well is not the exact same thing. But I remember a president who pounded that erroneous equivalency into our heads. It was the last president. While it might be cute to agree with him this one time just because it’s convenient for my side, I won’t.

The Dow is just one measure of how the economy is working. There’s more to it than that, of course.

Steve Rattner, an investment banker and financial journalist, discussed the impact of the Federal Reserve Board’s quarterly meeting on MSNBC last Wednesday. He said this holiday season, “Inflation on goods, from used cars to computers and televisions is actually turned into deflation. Prices on those goods are actually lower than they were a year ago.”

It seems to me that Hoosiers are getting the short end of the stick. Indianapolis and our political leaders are laying any blame for the less than wholesome Indiana economy off on Washington. Perhaps this is why people are not feeling the good economy - local mismanagement offsets the broader benefits.  No way this could be a conscious choice by the Republicans running Indiana, could it?

sch 12/22