U-M: U.S. economy will rebound
ANN ARBOR - Despite a slumping housing market, rising oil prices, flat auto sales, a weak U.S. dollar and waning consumer confidence, America's economy will not slip into recession, say University of Michigan economists.

And the residential construction industry should start to show signs of life toward the end of next year.

"By mid-2008, the downturn in homebuilding is reaching its bottom," said Saul Hymans, U-M professor emeritus of economics, in a prestigious nationwide study released Nov. 15. "Energy prices, while still quite high, are down from their recent heights and edging lower. Consumer spending begins to pick up and nonresidential investment remains relatively strong. With all of these factors contributing, the pace of real Gross Domestic Product growth picks up during the second half of 2008 and proceeds at a healthy clip during 2009."

In their annual forecast of the U.S. economy, Hymans and colleagues Joan Crary and Janet Wolfe say, however, that national economic output growth will remain sluggish in the short term - due to the ongoing decline in residential construction and subdued growth in consumer spending.

They say the rate of economic growth will be just 2.1 percent this year, down from 2.9 percent in 2006. But output growth will increase to 2.4 percent next year and accelerate to 3.4 percent in 2009.

According to the forecast, both residential construction and existing home sales will begin to turn up in the second half of next year. US. housing starts, which are down 35 percent since 2005, will continue to fall from 1.35 million this year to 1.21 million in 2008, before increasing to 1.55 million the year after.


Marchers protest NLRB ruling
WASHINGTON (PAI) - More than 1,000 union members marched on the National Labor Relations Board headquarters on Nov. 15, protesting a slew of anti-worker rulings by the three-member majority installed by President Bush.

The protest, organized by the AFL-CIO, drew unionists, religious allies and a wide range of supporters.

"This is not the NLRB. This is George Bush's board. This is Dick Cheney's board. This is the Chamber of
Commerce's board. This is the National Association of Manufacturers' board. And it sure as hell ain't the Labor Board!' declared Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts.

The marchers protested 61 NLRB decisions, virtually all by party-line 3-2 votes, starting in late September and continuing, that stripped away many workers' rights. They included rulings making it easier to oust unions through what are called "decertification petitions," rulings making it harder for workers illegally fired for pro-union work to get back pay, and rulings making it easier for firms to break labor law.

Other NLRB rulings that the unionists protested weakened the already weak right to strike, opened the
door to retaliatory lawsuits by companies, let employers get away with illegal threats to workers, and let employers evade the law's mandate that they must bargain with the union once it is certified to represent the workers.

The stream of anti-worker rulings is so bad that last month, the AFL-CIO formally filed a complaint about
the NLRB with the International Labour Organization.

The Rev. Ron Stief, organizing director for Faith in Public Life, said the marchers "know who to give
thanks for" in the holiday season, including unions, organizers, civil rights groups, and religious groups "who stand between us and this (NLRB) behavior. And we know who the turkey is," Stief added, to laughter.