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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 | ContinuedU.S. GDP Contracts 6.2%, Recovery Outlook Has Mixed Emotions
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at a 6.2% annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2008, the most since 1982, the Commerce Department said Friday.
The government last month estimated the drop in fourth-quarter GDP at 3.8%. Friday’s 2.4 percentage-point revision was almost five times as large as the average adjustment.
“Most of the major components contributed to the much larger decrease in real GDP in the fourth quarter than in the third,” the Commerce Department said. “The largest contributors were a downturn in exports and a much larger decrease in equipment and software.”
Global trade, which contributed a 0.1%…
2Mar2009 | Money Morning | 0 comments | ContinuedFederal Reserve, Bank of China Cut Interest Rates as Financial Crisis Deepens
Federal Reserve policymakers yesterday (Wednesday) reduced the benchmark Federal Funds rate to 1.0%, an aggressive half-percentage-point cut that central bank Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest attempt to keep the widening financial crisis from tipping the world into a global recession.
“The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures,” the Fed said in a statement. “Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many foreign economies is damping the prospects for U.S. exports.
“Moreover,” the statement added, “the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely…
30Oct2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedWith a Rate Decision, GDP Report Due Today, the Fed Walks the High Wire Again
If U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers make the expected quarter-point rate cut at the end of their meeting today (Wednesday), the impact will be felt well beyond U.S. borders.
Indeed, the interest-rate reduction could set in motion a series of diverse global events that will impact such seemingly unrelated areas as European inflation, global food prices, the U.S. dollar, American exports, and the already chilly relationship between the European Central Bank (ECB) and the government of France.
For any of this to happen, however, the Fed first has to act. Most observers believe the U.S. central bank’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will…
30Apr2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | Continued
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