You know my views on Presidents and the economy: Too much credit for when things go right, too much blame when things go wrong.
Still, I like the way Bloomberg measured 14 gauges of economic activity and financial performance across a broad range of activity — from job and wage growth to the strength of the real estate and auto industries to the health of stock and bond investments that deliver security to workers and retirees alike. They are:
- Total nonfarm payrolls
- Manufacturing jobs
- Value of the dollar compared to major currencies
- Gross domestic product
- Federal budget deficit (or surplus) as a percentage of GDP
- Disposable income per capita
- Household debt as a percentage of disposable income
- Home equity
- Car sales
- Hourly wages
- Productivity
- Bond-market performance
- The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of U.S. stocks
- Gap between U.S. and global stock performance
Here is the table:
Source: Bloomberg
