Today’s report that GDP grew at a 5.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter is good news, but it’s far too early to break out the champagne and declare “recovery accomplished.”
Even if this growth rate were to be sustained for 3 years we would still not create enough jobs to climb out of the hole caused by this recession. Worse, this growth will not be sustained. This quarter’s growth was driven largely by a restocking of business inventories that will not be repeated in coming quarters.
Nothing about today’s report says that a sustained recovery will happen quickly unless Congress and the Administration pass a robust jobs package on the magnitude of $400 billion dollars. -Josh Bivens