Plus, Michelle Obama and Harry Reid having fun in Vegas....
First, this from The American Prospect:
Americans Want to Give Health Care Reform a Chance.
Democrats are pumped up about this AP story on public opinion about the Affordable Care Act:
But when asked if they would be more likely to vote for a congressional candidate willing to give the law a chance to work and make changes as needed, or one who would repeal it entirely and start over, respondents picked the one who would give it a chance by 55-42.
Political independents favored giving the law a chance 57-40 in the poll, taken in early May.
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Both the president during his speech today at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and VP Joe Biden predicted a strong jobs report on Friday. We'll see. Meanwhile, a lot of good economic news this week (and Gallup has president Obama back to 50% today).
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Gallup: U.S. Workers Report Most Job Creation in 19 Months
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's Job Creation Index hit its best level in 19 months in May. Based on 16,395 U.S. employees' self-reports of hiring (28%) and firing (21%) activity at their workplaces, the Index improved to +7 -- up steadily this year and a total of eight points since January.
Both Hiring and Firing Continue to Improve
Twenty-eight percent of U.S. workers report that their companies are hiring, a total increase of five points since January, while 21% say their companies are letting people go -- an improvement of three points.
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Ohio see its biggest job growth jump in 22 years!
....Seems like Ohio is always — or, too often, anyway — someplace near the bottom of national economic rankings, at least as to the direction of things.
So it should be noted that in April, when jobs materialized faster than in March nationally, Ohio got more than its share.
Remember reading that the country added a promising 290,000 jobs in April? Well, it turns out that Ohio led the nation, with 37,000. That is, it had more new jobs even than much bigger states.
It was the state’s biggest jump in 22 years.
The point is made here not to suggest that happy days are here again. It’s made with an eye on that old Ohio trend of bringing up the rear.
In some measure, the recent good news for Ohio results from progress in the manufacturing and auto sectors. Nationally, April was the best month that manufacturing has seen in 12 years, in job growth: 44,000.
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Biggest rise in construction spending in nearly a decade
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economic recovery is gaining strength from the biggest rise in construction spending in nearly a decade and the 10th straight month of expansion for manufacturers.
The two positive reports eased some fears that the debt crisis in Europe might be starting to stunt the U.S. economic rebound.
"The recovery is still on track," said Brian Bethune, a senior economist at IHS Global Insight. While Europe's troubles will put a drag on profits at U.S. companies that do business overseas, Bethune said, "it's not going to be a show-stopper."
The burst in April construction spending reported Tuesday by the Commerce Department sent a promising signal for an industry that was among the hardest hit during the recession. The 2.7 percent increase was spread across all major sectors. But temporary government incentives fueled gains in two of three major categories. The economy will eventually have to manage with less government support.
In a separate report, the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said its manufacturing index dipped only slightly in May from a nearly six-year high in April. But the 59.7 reading for May was well above the 50 level that indicates expansion. Export orders rose despite Europe's troubles.
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Tax credits fuel 6% rise in April home sales
Number of buyers signing contracts reaches highest level since October
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- The number of contracts to buy previously owned homes climbed in April as Americans took advantage of the last month of a tax credit.
The index of pending home resales rose 6 percent, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, following a revised 7.1 percent gain in March, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The gauge reached the highest level since October.
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Sales were projected to rise 5 percent in April after an originally reported gain of 5.3 percent in March, according to the median of 40 forecasts in the Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from a 3 percent drop to an increase of 10 percent.
Three of four regions saw an increase, today’s report showed. That included a 30 percent jump in the Northeast, a 7.5 percent rise in the West and a 4.1 percent gain in the Midwest. Pending purchases declined 0.6 percent in the South.
Compared with April 2009, pending sales were up 25 percent.
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Sales of existing homes, which account for about 90 percent of the housing market, rose 7.6 percent in April to the highest level in five months, the Realtors’ group reported May 24. Demand may keep rising through June, the deadline to close a deal and receive the tax credit.
New-home purchases, which make up the rest of the market and are tabulated when a contract is signed, jumped 15 percent in April after surging 30 percent the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed on May 26.
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GM, Ford U.S. Sales Top Analysts’ Estimates as SUV Demand Gains
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. posted U.S. sales increases in May that topped analysts’ estimates as customers bought more Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Edge sport utility vehicles.
GM’s deliveries rose 17 percent from a year earlier to 223,822, the Detroit-based automaker said today in a statement. GM was expected to report a 5.9 percent increase, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Ford sales rose 22 percent, topping the average estimate for a 16 percent gain.
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More about the auto-industry recovery from Steven Rattner, who was the lead auto adviser for the the administration, and is about to publish a new book: "Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry". This from a story he wrote yesterday in the Washington Post:
We don't need an aircraft carrier and "Mission Accomplished" banner, but isn't it time to agree that the auto rescue has been a success?
A year after the government-sponsored bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler, both patients are alive and progressing well toward recovery.
Two weeks ago, GM reported its first quarterly profit in nearly three years: net income of $865 million on $31.5 billion in sales. A month earlier, Chrysler's first-quarter report included the news that the company had turned cash-flow positive after nearly bleeding to death in 2008.
Both companies are also doing better in the marketplace. Market-share declines have been arrested. Bloated inventories on dealers' lots have been reduced dramatically. Use of sales incentives such as rebates and interest-free financing -- the cocaine of the auto industry -- has been substantially reduced.
And the prices that the cars are fetching have risen sharply since last year: by $2,500 for GM and $2,400 for Chrysler. That means that the companies' historically poor images -- brand equity, in industry parlance -- have begun to improve.
How did this happen? First, the bankruptcies -- terrifying to everyone -- succeeded in wiping vast liabilities from the companies' balance sheets, more than $65 billion in the case of GM. The government task force that evaluated the industry leaders -- of which I was a part -- also insisted on a cold-blooded look at operating costs. Tough, conservative projections replaced years of rosy-scenario forecasting. As a result, GM cut its North American expenses by $8 billion per year.
In overseeing the restructurings, we insisted that assumptions about sales be very conservative. We wanted GM, which used to need to sell 16 million vehicles a year in the United States just to break even, to be profitable at volumes as low as 10 million. Happily, annual sales are running above 11 million and are likely to keep climbing. Accordingly, what would have been losses at "old GM" are now profits at shiny new GM.
None of this would have been sufficient without a fresh approach to management, particularly at GM. The new board, composed of individuals chosen for their private-sector expertise, has insisted on faster, more analytically rigorous decision making. Ed Whitacre, whom we recruited as chairman, has done a great job since becoming chief executive. He has shaken up the management team, bringing in a handful of talented outsiders and reassigning many insiders.
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Finally, one of me fave bloggers, Steve Benen is taking a step back:
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....Oh, for the halcyon days of "only" having to deal with wars, economic crises and a global flu pandemic. This was 13 months ago, when the challenges facing America's leadership seemed overwhelming.
Since then -- in addition to the two wars, economic crises, and global flu pandemic -- it's been hard to keep up the pressing and immediate challenges on the Obama administration's to-do list. We've seen natural disasters (Haiti's earthquake, Nashville's flooding, Oklahoma's tornadoes), man-made disasters (the BP oil spill), default crises (Dubai, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal), foreign policy crises (North Korea, Israel), and attempted terrorist attacks (Abdulmutallab on Christmas, Shahzad in Times Square).
I can only assume that it's fairly common for President Obama to wake up, receive his morning briefings, and say, "You've got to be kidding me."
For what it's worth, I may not agree with every decision or policy position, but when it comes to confidence during tumultuous times, I'm pretty relieved to know Barack Obama is in the Oval Office. And while the media has decided it's unacceptable, the president's cool, poised demeanor seems unusually well suited to the times.
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Michelle Obama with kids at the WH and taking poor Harry Reid to a boot camp during Let's Move Outside program at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas. Pictures all by AP, and they worth million words. :)
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First Lady Michelle Obama greets the crowd after making remarks at the Women's Summit with Senator Harry Reid in Reno, Nevada. June 1, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)
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(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza, May 27)