MoneyTalk: Economic Review and Outlook for the Caribbean, U.S & Global Economy

Last quarter, the economy grew by the largest amount since the summer of 2007, but there are signs that things are still getting worse. The consensus forecast is that job losses will continue through the end of this year, with many economists not expecting unemployment to peak until next summer. That will add to the 7.2 million jobs already lost in this downturn. Even with Thursday's report that showed the economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter, the continued job losses are not a shock. Jobs are what are known as a trailing or lagging indicator, meaning that they change in response to other economic events, rather than predicting changes the way a leading indicator, such as the stock market, does. That's because even after a recession has ended, employers are slow to add staff until they're sure that demand has returned.