U.S. Economy Grew a Less-Than-Forecast 1.2% in Second Quarter

[GURPS]

U.S. Economy Grew a Less-Than-Forecast 1.2% in Second Quarter


The U.S. economy expanded less than forecast in the second quarter after a weaker start to the year than previously estimated as companies slimmed down inventories and remained wary of investing amid shaky global demand.

Gross domestic product rose at a 1.2 percent annualized rate after a 0.8 percent advance the prior quarter, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 2.5 percent second-quarter increase.

The report raises the risk to the outlook at a time Federal Reserve policy makers are looking for sustained improvement, Where consumers were resilient last quarter, businesses were cautious -- cutting back on investment and aggressively reducing stockpiles amid weak global markets, heightened uncertainty, and the lingering drag from a stronger dollar.

“It’s still very much a stop-and-go economy, and we could see more of the same in the second half,” Thomas Costerg, a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, said before the report. “There are a few dark clouds. That could prevent economic growth from breaking out.”

Yep I see Obama's Economic Policies are really setting fire to growth ....... Oh wait WHAT Policies :shrug:

 

[Gilligan]

Golly gee wiz!..they got it wrong??

I don't believe it.

 

[tommyjo]

Golly gee wiz!..they got it wrong??

I don't believe it.

Actually most forecasters pulled down their expectations late yesterday when the inventory data was released by the Census Bureau. You, Mr. BSD who knows SO much about economics, wouldn't know that of course. You also wouldn't understand that the personal demand component inside the report was pretty strong. Nor would you have bothered to look and understand that the bigger negatives were in the same place they've been coming for the past year, structure/business investment related to the decline in oil prices. If you actually followed anything about the overall economy, you would also know that the industrial recession caused by low oil prices is likely over---without that industrial recession translating into an economy wide recession. That has never happened before. You knew that, right?

Oh... and you, Mr. BSD who knows SO much about economics, should-by now-understand that this is the preliminary report on GDP. Two more revisions follow.

And, of course, you and Gurps should understand-by now-that the US has had the strongest recovery from the Great Recession...that our recovery could have been stronger had the Congress done anything to help from a fiscal standpoint in the past 5 years.

Naturally you all understand and follow all this...because you are Mr. BSD who understands SO much about economics.

 

[Gilligan]

You, Mr. BSD who knows SO much about economics, wouldn't know that of course. .

You know this, how, exactly?


How does it feel to be wrong all the time?..to be losing every argument, and always on defense? To be so easily baited and trolled?

 

[GURPS]

... US has had the strongest recovery from the Great Recession ...

Googled That Phrase ......


top hit:

No confidence in Obama economy


“Our middle class is shrinking,” one candidate warned during a debate. “Our poor families are becoming poorer, and 70 percent of us are earning the same or less than we were 12 years ago. We need new leadership.”

Another candidate scorned the administration’s happy talk about unemployment falling to just over 5 percent. “What they forgot to tell you,” he told an audience, “is that statistic doesn’t include those people who have given up looking for work, those people who are working part time. Add it all together and real unemployment is over 10 percent.”

Politics being what it is, nobody is surprised when Republicans harshly judge Obama’s handling of the economy. But wait — those quotes come from Democrats. That was former governor Martin O’Malley lamenting that wages haven’t improved in 12 years. It was Senator Bernie Sanders pointing out how bad the jobless numbers really are. With the exception of Hillary Clinton, who told the Globe that she would give Obama an “A” for “saving our economy,” candidates across the spectrum have acknowledged how threadbare this recovery has been.

The Great Recession formally ended in June 2009, just five months after Obama’s inauguration. Nevertheless, polls repeatedly find that large swaths of voters believe the US economy is still suffering from recession. They may be wrong on the technical definition. But they aren’t nearly as wrong on the essence of the matter as the president, who insists the economy is coming up roses.

I don't think the Boston Globe is know for being a Right Wing Mouth Piece

 

[SamSpade]

Googled That Phrase ......

Not even sure if it means - anything. Everything I have EVER read says that the recovery has been the weakest in history - that historically, it's a good idea to invest at the bottom of a recession, because the bounce back is usually fiercely quick, like a rubber band snapping back.

This hasn't been anything like it. Instead of a sharp spike back, it's been a long slow crawl.

 

[stgislander]

As TJ keeps saying, if only Congress had thrown more money at the problem six years ago, we'd all be rolling in the Benjamins now.

 

[Gilligan]

As TJ keeps saying, if only Congress had thrown more money at the problem six years ago, we'd all be rolling in the Benjamins now.

Say...weren't you put in charge of securing gummint grant money when it was so easy to get? Not going to look good on your next PR....

 

[GURPS]

Seven Years Later, Recovery Remains the Weakest of the Post-World War II Era
Despite longevity, total growth during this economic expansion is lower than for much shorter business cycles



Even seven years after the recession ended, the current stretch of economic gains has yielded less growth than much shorter business cycles.

In terms of average annual growth, the pace of this expansion has been by far the weakest of any since 1949. (And for which we have quarterly data.) The economy has grown at a 2.1% annual rate since the U.S. recovery began in mid-2009, according to gross-domestic-product data the Commerce Department released Friday.

[lots of charts at the link]

The prior expansion, from 2001 through 2007, was the only other business cycle of the past 11 when the economy didn’t grow at least 3% a year, on average.

Total growth this expansion ranks just 8th of the past 11 cycles. The U.S. economy, at the end of June, was 15.5% larger than it was when the recession ended in 2009.