Health Science

Economics Indicators Essay Throughout the years, the United States economy has fluctuated immensely. In the year 2013, the current GDP is estimated to be 2.8%, unemployment will average out at around 7.3%, and the rate of inflation is 1%. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States. In 2012 the GDP was 2.5% and economists have calculated that 2013’s GDP will end up being 2.8%. This means there will be a 0.3% increase in the total GDP from last year to this year. The increase in the GDP basically means that the economy is doing better, and the US is on it’s way to achieving a higher standard in living. The unemployment rate is the percentage of people in the labor force who wish to have a job, but are currently unemployed. This percentage excludes anyone who is retired. There are four different types of uneployment: frictional, which is when someone is inbetween jobs or just recently graduated. Structural unemployment is a mismatch between job seekers and job opening. Cyclical unemployment is when people stop spending as much so employers are forced to lay workers off. And finally, seasonal unemployment, which are people who are unemployed because they are unable to work in the current (geographic) conditions. Because there are all these different types of unemployment, it is important for one to know that there will always be unemployment. Now, whether or not that number is in between the 4-6% standard unemployment rate is important because that’ll indicate whether unemployment is relatively normal or not. In the past year, the United States unemployment rate has dropped one percent, it started out at 8.3% and slowly but surely has decreased to 7.3%. This means that the economy has improved because unemployment has dropped, and the more it drops, the better off Americans as a whole are. The more people work, the more money they make, the better our economy gets. Inflation is a general rise in the level of prices. This, however, does not mean that prices are rising at the same time and this change is not necessarily a result of a one time shock. The latest annual inflation rate for the United States is 1.0%. This number has slowly decreased throughout the years. When inflation is low, consumers and businesses are better able to make plans because they know that the people will keep buying their products and the rate of people buying things is not going to slow down drastically. The decrease in the inflation rate means that people the economy is doing good and businesses are able to keep prices lower and still make a good living for themselves. Given all of this, the United States economy is doing impressively well. The homeostasis of the economy has been set straight and everything is at peace, for now. At this moment in time, the economy is located on the expansion (recovery) section of the business cycle diagram. The economy will eventually peak, and then it’ll start going into recession, but no fear, because it is all part of the circle of life (economy) and it’ll go back up eventually. And all will be right in the world once more.
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