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Data Shows U.S. GDP Contraction Slowing
While the many of the world’s economies continue to look for signs of growth, the U.S. economy took a big step in the right the direction in the second quarter.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 1% in the second quarter, following the first quarter’s 6.4% drop. The $787 billion Obama stimulus package, smaller decreases in business spending and slowing erosion of the housing market all helped to slow GDP contraction, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A poll of 78 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News showed a median estimate of a 1.5% decline in GDP.
“The recession is slowing but…
4Aug2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedWeak Consumer Spending, Record-Low Consumer Confidence Spell Bad News for the U.S. Economy
Consumer spending – the driving force behind the U.S. economy – slowed in April.
Soaring prices wiped out any benefit from the scant 0.2% increase in consumer spending in April, the Commerce Department announced. After adjustment for inflation, consumer spending was flat at 0.0%.
“Consumers are still spending, but just enough to keep up with price increases and nothing more,” Joel Naroff, president and chief economist of Naroff Economic Advisors LLC, said in a note to clients the day the report was released.
The April rate of consumer spending represents a slow-down from March’s 0.4% increase.
Inflation was mild, if you disregard food and…
2Jun2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedU.S. Economy Expanded Faster than Reported, With First Quarter GDP Revised Upward to 0.9%
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.9% in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced yesterday (Wednesday).
“We are somewhere in the twilight zone between an expansion and a recession,†Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) in New York, told Bloomberg News. “We will have a poor pace of growth through the year.â€
The preliminary estimate of GDP represents an increase from the Apr. 30 advance estimate of 0.6% and is based on more complete economic information.
Economic expansion was primarily due to a boost in exports due to…
30May2008 | Money Morning | 1 comment | ContinuedApril Durable Goods Unexpectedly Improve, Shining Soft Light on U.S. Economy
Orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, rose 2.5% in April, an unexpected gain that underscores that a weak greenback and strong overseas demand for American-made goods are helping recharge the downtrodden U.S. economy.
Total orders last month shrunk by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted $214.42 billion, the Commerce Department reported. That was well below some forecasts of a 2.0% drop.
Durable goods – such as cars, appliances, electronics and toys – are manufactured items that are expected to last at least a few years. Together with sales of nondurable goods – more-ephemeral items such as paper and food – and…
29May2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedWarren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha,” Tells German Audiences That the U.S. Economy is in a Deep Recession
The United States is already in a recession and it will be longer as well as deeper than many people expect, U.S. investment guru Warren Buffett said in an interview published Saturday in the German magazine Der Spiegel.
The United States is “already in recession… perhaps not in the sense that economists would define it [with two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product (GDP)] but the people are already feeling the effects,” Buffett said. “It will be deeper and last longer than many think.”
As Money Morning reported back in March, Buffett made a similar pronouncement to U.S. audiences during an interview with the popular…
27May2008 | Money Morning | 1 comment | ContinuedUnited States Economy: Survival of the Unfittest
I would like to begin this post with a brief excerpt from an article in the latest Time Magazine article titled, “The Federal Job Machine” dated sometime in early ‘07.
24Apr2008 | S. Oakes | 4 comments | Continued“President George W. Bush labored to make the case that the economy is “strong,” using the word eight times in one speech in Peoria, Ill. In terms of the basic indicators of economic growth (now 3.5% annually) and unemployment at 4.6%, he’s right. But when you consider that 2% of the current U.S. economic activity is the product of federal deficit spending and more than 6% is paid for with money…
U.S. Consumers Destined for a Future with Fewer Choices, Much-Higher Costs
Recent high-profile bankruptcies of mainstay American retailers, such as Sharper Image Corp. (SHRPQ) and Linens Holding Co.’s Linens ‘n Things, as well as the proposed mergers between Blockbuster Inc. (BBI)/Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL)/Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA), and the admissions from the nation’s leading student lenders that their business models are no longer viable, mark the beginning of a long overdue overhaul of the American economy. In short, the economy will be getting smaller and more expensive.
The success of all of these seemingly disparate sectors depends, to a large extent, on the ability of…
23Apr2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | Continued
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