Shock! IMF cuts global economic forecast.. for third time this year

Tuesday, the IMF updated it’s World Economic Outlook downgrading three-out-of-four of the world’s most powerful economies.

While the Eurozone was given an outlook putting them more into reverse, the U.S. and China are now expected to grow even more slowly than the previous projections. Only Japan was given an improved outlook.

News reports have spun the three consecutive downgrades as showing the global economy “in nuetral”, but declining expectations and now U.S. small business sentiment dropping in June paints a much more bleak picture – the recovery that has been heralded seems not to be materializing.

There are approximately 9 million fewer jobs in the U.S. economy than when the recession started. With only 47% of adults holding full-time jobs, things are not likely to improve soon as government programs pull more money out of the economy through fees and taxation and leave less capital for growth and investment.

The latest Bureau of Labor statistics report echoes the IMF’s report. The report showed that job growth was mainly in part-time jobs and that a large portion of the American workforce remains unemployed which gives no reason to doubt the recent IMF downgrade.

Emerging markets took a hit as well. Brazil had it’s growth prediction dropped from 3% to 2.5%.