Solid Polystyrene Prices Fall One Cent

Kind of an odd headline for a general readership blog? You bet. So why? Because I think there is a deeper meaning. From Plastics News.

North American prices for solid polystyrene resin fell again in June amid weak demand for that material.

Solid PS prices ticked down an average of 1 cent per pound, according to buyers and market watchers contacted by Plastics News. Prices had fallen a total of 5 cents per pound in April and May.

Weak demand? How can that be? Unemployment is down.

The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in June, marking the fifth straight month where employers added at least 200,000 jobs. The last time that happened was in late 1999, as the dot-com bubble was inflating.

Funny thing though, the US economy also added 288,000 jobs in April. What are the odds of that happening? Well it had to be some number.

And here is some news you may have missed.

U.S. Economy Shrinks By Most Since Great Recession

The U.S. economy contracted at a much steeper pace than previously estimated in the first quarter, but there are indications that growth has since rebounded strongly.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday gross domestic product fell at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the economy’s worst performance in five years, instead of the 1.0 percent pace it had reported last month.

While the economy’s woes have been largely blamed on an unusually cold winter, the magnitude of the revisions suggest other factors at play beyond the weather. Growth has now been revised down by a total of 3.0 percentage points since the government’s first estimate was published in April, which had the economy expanding at a 0.1 percent rate.

How could they be so far off? They must have a bad model.

In any case I think that you might want to prepare for a continuing contraction in the economy. The jobs report and Wall Street not withstanding.

Well put some meat on the grill (if you like it and can afford it) and have a Happy 4th.

Update:

From those eternal optimists at Zero Hedge.

June Full-Time Jobs Plunge By Over Half A Million, Part-Time Jobs Surge By 800K, Most Since 1993

In June the BLS reports that the number of full-time jobs tumbled by 523K to 118.2 million while part-time jobs soared by 799K to over 28 million!

That may explain a few things. And Obamacare explains the rest. Especially the part time jobs.

Further Update:

For those of you into arcana, The Baltic Dry Index falls to 890 points. Down from its May 20th 2008 all time high of 11,793 points. It is not just the US. And to give you some idea of the current rate of drop it fell 4 points in one day. July 1st to July 2nd.