The economic numbers roll in ceaselessly and some are good. As with last week’s initial unemployment claims. But then there comes a number that makes it plain that it would be premature to break out the champagne and sing “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
As Anna Bernasek of the New York Timesreports:
The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline,
And there is short term news that is also sobering. As Fox Business reports:
Contracts to buy previously-owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in June, casting a cloud over the housing market recovery.
A recovery, it should be said, that continues to take its sweet time.