BUSINESS NEWS….Here’s how the Associated Press reported today’s batch of economic news:
Orders to U.S. factories advanced by 0.9 percent in April, the fastest clip in five months, while worker productivity at the start of the year was better than originally thought and the nation’s retailers enjoyed strong sales despite a cold spring.
But all the economic news released Thursday wasn’t good. Labor costs, a key factor influencing inflation rates, rose sharply over the past six months.
Factory orders up? Good news! Productivity up? Good news! Strong retail sales? Good news!
Workers getting paid more? Ouch. Not so good. Can’t have that, can we?
This is standard business reporting, by the way. Higher labor costs are inevitably reported as “troubling” or “worrisome,” which sort of makes you wonder what these business reporters think the point of a strong economy is. Higher CEO pay?
