ECONOMY WEEKLY: WEEK OF APRIL 5, 2010
Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
2010-04-09T00:00:00
Contact Info:
Katie Grant
Stephanie Lundberg
(202) 225 - 3130
Stephanie Lundberg
(202) 225 - 3130
“‘When you take it all together, the [government’s] response [to the economic crisis] was… ultimately successful,’ says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com (MCO). Even Obama critics like Phil Swagel, assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy under George W. Bush, acknowledge that White House policies have been successful…. ‘[T]heir economic policies, including the stimulus, have helped move the economy in the right direction.’”
– Bloomberg News, 4/8/2010
Economy Highlights:
• According to a survey of nationwide retailers, March posted the best monthly sales performance in a decade, “offering bold new evidence that a strong economic recovery could be ahead.… Of the 28 retailers whose results were tallied by Thomson Reuters, 92% beat sales expectations. The group's 9.1% sales gain was significantly better than the 6.3% increase analysts had been expecting and marked the best month on record since the company began tracking data in 2000. [L.A. Times, 4/9/2010]
• In a continuing effort to increase lending to small businesses and support more job creation, the White House launched a program to “unfreeze the markets that finance Small Business Administration loans,” using funding made available by the Troubled Assets Relief Program. [Washington Post, 4/5/2010]
Recovery Highlights:
• Due in large part to the tax benefits available under the Recovery Act, average tax refunds this year are up nearly 10%. As April 15 – “Tax Day” – approaches, to ensure that all taxpayers are aware for which Recovery Act tax breaks they are eligible, the Obama Administration launched an interactive Tax Savings Tool to “alert taxpayers to the more than a dozen tax benefits available to them under the Recovery Act.” Click here to access the Tax Savings Tool. [White House, 3/22/2010]