| <No.648> |
| Economists Say Election Uncertainty Slowing US Job Growth |
|
Business loves certainty and a new survey by the National Association for Business Economists suggests a divisive election season with no clear outcome may be giving companies heartburn.
Here’s why, says NABE spokesman LaVaughn Henry.
"They like to be able to project forward:
'What will be my taxes next year?
What will be the regulations I may be facing the following few years?'
Without a candidate elected and implementing policy at a given point in time, you have increased uncertainty."
Analysts agree some businesses act more cautiously in an election year.
But there's a caveat.
We spoke with Bankrate senior analyst Mark Hamrick on Skype.
"I have a hard time believing that if one were an employer and they are seeing sufficient demand for products or services, they would hold off on adding resource or workers to meet that demand simply because an election is looming."
Asked to grade the major candidates, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton's policies address the most important economic issues.
CRFB President Maya MacGuineas says both campaigns fail on the issues of debt, income inequality and entitlement spending.
"It's certainly a situation of where we're stuck grading on a curve, because nobody's anywhere close to an 'A' - barely anybody would pass, frankly, the tests we would have for fiscal policy."
Some businesses may be hedging their bets until November, but on some issues Bank of America Sharon Miller sees attitudes split along gender lines.
"There is some uncertainty.
However, when you look at some of the issues, that are being discussed during the election, like minimum wage, we did find that women business owners were much more in favor of raising the minimum wage and thought that it would have a positive impact on the economy versus the men that we surveyed."
Employers added only 155,000 jobs in August.
That's a far cry from the previous two months, which saw an average gain of about 270,000 new jobs between June and July.
Mil Arcega, VOA News, Washington |
|
|
|
