IntroductionThis article will discuss the current economic condition of the United States and the writer's opinion on how it can be changed. Unemployment is high and must be reduced to full employment. We will explore the inflation rate, GDP growth, and other factors in our current economic situation. The main factor that put us in recession from 2007 to 2009 was the collapse of the housing market and subprime lending. We are no longer in recession. But where are we? Unemployment Even though the recession began in 2007, unemployment is still high. The January 2014 unemployment rate was 6.6%. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014) This is down from the 7.4% unemployment rate in 2013. In 2007 the unemployment rate was 4.6% (better than the full employment rate in 5%). The unemployment rate peaked at 9.6% in 2010. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014) The unemployment rate is not what we would like to see, but it is improving and will eventually return to full employment. Bureau of Labor Projections The statistics don't give us much hope for a quick return to full employment. “Expected slower growth of the noninstitutional civilian population and declining labor force participation rates limit labor force growth, which in turn limits economic growth.” Workforce growth from 2012 to 2022 is projected to be 0.5% per year. This is down from 0.7% in the years 2002 to 2012. (U.S. Department of Labor Staff, 2014) Inflation“The latest annual inflation rate for the United States is 1.5% per the 12 months ending December 2013, as published by the United States Government on January 16, 2014.” (CoinNews Media Group LLC Staff, 2014) The lowest inflation rate for 2007-20...... middle of paper...... rom-the-economy-in-2014/McConnell, CR , Brue , S. L. , & Flynn , S. M. (2012). Economics: principles, problems and policies - nineteenth edition. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Staff of the United States Department of Labor. (2014, February 13). Employment projections: summary 2012-2022. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htmU.S. Department of Labor Staff. (2014, February 14). Labor force statistics from the current population survey. Retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNU04000000?years_option=all_years&periods_option=specific_periods&periods=Annual+DataU.S. Department of Labor Staff. (2014, February 14). The Employment Situation - January 2014. Retrieved from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf