PLANO, Texas – Credit unions can expect moderate loan demand to continue into 2012, according to Brian Turner, director of advisory services for Catalyst Strategic Solutions.
Turner is basing his forecast on continuing issues with job growth. While the nation’s unemployment rate fell from 9.0% to 8.6% in November, Turner attributed that improvement to a 315,000-worker decline in the total civilian labor force.
“The good news is that the unemployment rate is down. The bad news is that there are less people in the labor force. Therefore, the bottom line is that nothing has really changed,” said Turner.
The Labor Department reported the economy added 120,000 jobs in November. The private sector added 140,000 jobs with the service-providing sector contributing the most. Combined, November’s job growth and civilian labor force decline statistically resulted in a 594,000-worker reduction in the unemployed ranks, observed Turner, putting the nation’s unemployed labor force at 13.3-million.
