Obama links debt ceiling debate to unemployment

And when they agree to the deficit cuts, then unemployment will fall…

“The sooner we get this done, the sooner that the markets know that the debt limit ceiling will have been raised and that we have a serious plan to deal with our debt and deficit, the sooner that we give our businesses the certainty that will need in order to make additional investments to grow and hire,” Obama said.

He made his remarks just hours after the government reported anemic job growth for June and a new, higher unemployment rate of 9.2 percent.

Consumer Borrowing Rises $5.1 billion

Down a bit from April, but the larger question is whether higher gasoline prices led to more borrowing to buy what previously was bought from income.

Yes, savings is growing, but that is mainly in the form of reduced and unwanted private sector debt, and not dollars in savings accounts.

Consumer Borrowing Rises for Eighth Straight Month

July 8 (AP) — Americans borrowed more in May for the eighth straight month and used their credit cards more for only the second time in nearly three years.

The Federal Reserve says consumer borrowing rose $5.1 billion following a revised gain of $5.7 billion in April. Borrowing in the category that covers credit cards increased, as did borrowing in the category for auto and student loans.

The increase in credit card borrowing marked only the second monthly gain since August 2008. Since the financial crisis, consumers have been cutting back on the use of credit cards, which has depressed economic growth because it has held back consumer spending.

Valance Weekly Economic Reports

When I look at the charts in general things do not look good, and today’s employment report looks like more of same as well.

The problem remains a massive lack of aggregate demand.

Valance Weekly Report

Highlights
US – Manufacturing confidence rebounds
EU – Consumer Prices held at 2.7% in June
JN – Q2 Tankan Survey weak; BoJ reports regional improvements
UK – Mfg PMI followed the global trend
CA – Real GDP stalled in April
AU – RBA held rates still but turned dovish
NZ – Business surveys were upbeat