by Mahatmahems
Michael Snyder reports today, “the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators has already declined for 15 months in a row.”*
The US economy has been sputtering since 2019. After a reckoning of the loss of 4 mid-level banks in the Spring 2023 and the recent bankruptcy of a major freight company, something is not okay in USA.
On the streets of Phoenix, the blistering heat of evictions are at an all-time high of 7,000 so far this year.
Rental costs have been outstripped by mortgage cost in a bloated, corporate-owned, residential market.
Temporary residents – coming and going – keep the economy humming, while large-ticket, military hardware is, by far, the powerhouse of AZ’s economic engine.
Jobs in nursing and teaching are plentiful to the point of shortage.
But construction and maintenance workers are not being compensated for their part, given the risk and time devoted to the projects.
ASU is welcoming 80K freshmen. These are the people preceding another 750K of “snowbirds” who add their annual, economic activity to the state.
Profits from mostly military and temporary residents cover the everyday pressure of the economic squeeze for AZ workers.