U.S. economy

Christina Romer, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said while speaking on C-SPAN, that in spite of the fact the economy may show signs of recovery later this year the unemployment rate will unlikely decrease until 2010. She said that unemployment is expected to increase even if gross domestic product begins to grow in the fourth quarter of 2009.

On Tuesday government data showed that retail sales in the U.S. dropped by 1.1% in March swaying the expectations that the recession was coming to its end. Separately it was also reported that last month prices received by U.S. producers decreased by 1.2%.

The president is giving an economic speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday as 100-day symbolic mark of his administration nears.

It is also known that the speech contains no significant policy announcements, but it rather outlines the state of the economy when Obama took office in January, actions of his administration, and future plans regarding troubled sectors. Advisers suggest, Obama shows the public that his policies are actually working, in order for him to insure the public's support for his future plans.

According to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators study released today the U.S. economy is expected to emerge in the second half of the current year along with recovering consumer spending and the housing sector. Still the survey suggests that the unemployment rate will further rise into 2010.

According to George Soros’ forecast the U.S. economy is not to recover in a short time with a possibility of a situation that could be observed in Japan, in other words a long period of low recovery. Speaking to Reuter Financial Television Soros stressed that the government’s efforts aimed at rescuing financial institutions could have unprogramed implications effectively turning them into “zombies” that would suck the lifeblood out of the economy instead of stimulating it.

On Monday the Congressional Budget Office released the report that shows the U.S. budget deficit stood for about $1 trillion during the first six months of this fiscal year which began on October 1, according to Reuters. The report says that the government incurred $953 billion in red ink from October through March including $290 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program which is three times more than the deficit of 2008 that accounted for $313 billion.

The new poll results provided by Washington Post/ABC News showed that U.S. President Barack Obama was found to have very little guilt in the current state of the U.S. economy.

80 percent in the respondents blamed banks, financial institutions and corporations in the economic meltdown. About 70 percent also blamed consumers for taking too much debt and the former Bush administration for careless regulation.

A recent research conducted by the Harris Poll® that polled 2,355 U.S. adults online revealed while overall job performance of the President Obama is ranked high his performance on the economy receives negative marks with 53% of Americans against 47% of those giving him positive ratings. Yet 57% of the respondents expressed their confidence in the Obama’s administration saying that the White House will likely find best solutions to fix the crisis with 43% of the polled doubting it.

On Monday speaking to U.S. Conference of Mayors, hedge fund manager and billionaire philanthropist George Soros told that the bailout plan of the U.S. government to recover the country economy is necessary to the American people yet it cannot stop the economic decline. He noted that the funds are not enough to turn the situation into the right routine, adding that $350 billion remnant of the TARP will not be enough.