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An Alarm Goes Off Threatening The “Strong U.S. Jobs” Myth: Withheld Income Taxes Are Stalling
Be prepared for the next great transfer of wealth. Buy physical silver and storable food.
zerohedge.com / by Tyler Durden on 02/20/2016 – 16:53
Of all the indicators that the Fed has presented to justify its rate hike mentality and to validate that the US economy remains on a growth path despite clear recessionary signals from both the manufacturing sector and the dramatic tightening in financial conditions in recent months, Yellen’s preferred metric also happens to be the most lagging one: nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate, both of which supposedly signal the collapsing slack in the labor market and a jump in wages that has been “just around the corner” for years.
The problem is that when shifting away from lagging indicators of the labor market, to coincident ones, a starkly different picture emerges. The best example of this is when looking at the growth of federal income and employment tax withholdings, the broadest and most timely read on the health of the job market, which as Jed Graham writes, “has been sinking at an alarming rate.”
While for most of 2015, tax withholdings rose at a rate of 5% or more from a year ago, on the back of job growth and gains in wages, commissions and other incentive pay, in recent months there has been a substantial dropoff in this key indicator.
As shown in the chart below, revenue inflows to the Treasury Department steadily slowed through the fall, bringing the annual growth rate down to just below 4% by the start of 2016. That’s when growth seemingly collapsed — to just 1.8% over the past five-plus weeks, from Jan. 11 through Feb. 16.
The post An Alarm Goes Off Threatening The “Strong U.S. Jobs” Myth: Withheld Income Taxes Are Stalling appeared first on Silver For The People.
Thanks to BrotherJohnF
Source: http://silveristhenew.com/2016/02/20/an-alarm-goes-off-threatening-the-strong-u-s-jobs-myth-withheld-income-taxes-are-stalling-2/
