NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
With the news on Friday that the national unemployment rate is up again to 4.3%, the highest since 2021, the ripples of that are being felt across the Midwest.
"We can say pretty safely that this U.S. economy and the Mid-American economy is slowing down fairly significantly," said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss prior to the release. "The manufacturing sector in Kansas is moving sideways to a bit down."
Goss previously has said that the rate of increasing debt in the federal government is not sustainable. It's also important to note that the government pays a higher rate on its debt when overall rates are higher.
"That is the big elephant there in the room, and that's the interest payments on the debt, which is now greater than the military budget," Goss said. "We're talking about over a trillion dollars spending for our own interest, and the rates are going to be elevated for some time."
The Federal Reserve plans to cut interest rates at its September meeting, and Goss believes they will do so a second time in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Originally published on Hutch Post