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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Good Economic News

Good Economic News

by John Cole|  July 29, 20059:15 am| 10 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics

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Another quarter of solid growth, it appears:

The economy clocked in at a chipper 3.4 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, fresh evidence the country’s business climate is healthy despite surging energy costs.

The solid increase in the gross domestic product for the April-to-June quarter, reported by the Commerce Department on Friday, came on the heels of a larger 3.8 percent growth rate in the opening quarter of this year.

GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the broadest barometer of the country’s economic standing.

Despite the toll of elevated energy prices, consumers and businesses still managed to boost spending and investment modestly, helping to underpin overall economic growth in the second quarter.

The main reason why growth slowed in the second quarter compared with the first was that businesses were working off excess supplies of goods. That actually subtracted 2.32 percentage points from GDP. In the first quarter, businesses had bulked up their inventories.

The showing for the second quarter was slightly lower than the 3.5 percent pace that economists were forecasting before the release of the GDP report.

In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that workers’ wages and benefits grew by 0.7 percent in the second quarter– the same as the first quarter. That suggested that recovery in the job market isn’t fanning inflation on the compensation front.

Discuss.

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10Comments

  1. 1.

    DougJ

    July 29, 2005 at 9:18 am

    “In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that workers’ wages and benefits grew by 0.7 percent in the second quarter—the same as the first quarter.”

    Good news there. The liberals like to whine about how wages aren’t growing fast enough but the reality is that higher wages mean higher inflation, so keeping wages down is good for the country in the long run.

  2. 2.

    Patrick

    July 29, 2005 at 9:28 am

    Yeah, bu bu bu but Bush Lied and People Died and he was Selected not Elected and No Blood for Oil and Tax Cuts are for the Rich and

    (never mind)

    /moonbat channeling

  3. 3.

    Don Surber

    July 29, 2005 at 9:47 am

    Same news, but …

    Heads on the same AP story
    “U.S. growth slower than expected” — Globe and Mail

    “Economy grows despite high energy costs” — Business Week
    “Economy grows by 3.4 percent despite energy costs” Houston Chronicle

    AP lead: “The economy clocked in at a robust 3.4 per cent annual growth rate in the second quarter, fresh evidence the country’s business climate is sunny despite … ”

    Reuters lead: “US economy grew solidly at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the government reported on Friday, just … ”

    Other Reuters lead: “The US recovery from the 2001 recession was the weakest in more than 50 years, while inflation … ”

    Bloomberg lead: “The US economy grew at a 3.4 percent annual pace from April through June, the ninth straight quarter exceeding 3 percent, as sales boomed …”

    Slower than expected? Despite high energy costs? Robust? Solid? Weakest in 50 years? Ninth straight 3 percent or more quarter?

  4. 4.

    KC

    July 29, 2005 at 10:02 am

    Well, given that my contract is going to be up pretty soon, I’m happy to see the employment picture improving.

  5. 5.

    BinkyBoy

    July 29, 2005 at 10:58 am

    Pretty funny, since the general employment levels still arn’t fully hiring new entrants into the job market. In essence, not a single surpluss job has been created in over 6 years.

    Ah, statistics, you can make it say anything you want it to. Since the level of discouraged unemployed is about as high as it could possibly been, since employment rates arn’t meeting monthly expectations and our deficit shows no signs of slowing, what reason would there be to invest in anything American?

    Oh well, I’m just a disgusting, self-hating liberal, what do I know.

  6. 6.

    Sojourner

    July 29, 2005 at 11:01 am

    Pretty funny, since the general employment levels still arn’t fully hiring new entrants into the job market. In essence, not a single surpluss job has been created in over 6 years.

    Has anyone seen any total figures with respect to number of jobs gained versus number lost since 2001? Also, has anyone seen any numbers as to relative pay of new jobs versus lost jobs?

  7. 7.

    BinkyBoy

    July 29, 2005 at 11:05 am

    http://www.bls.gov

    And its just been THIS year that America has risen above previous earning levels, which is where the 0.7% comes from.

    and getting the number of jobs lost vs. gained is pretty difficult, since they arn’t keeping very good track of discouraged workers, they don’t adjust for those working more than 1 job, and even a readjusted part time job counts as a job.

  8. 8.

    BinkyBoy

    July 29, 2005 at 12:51 pm

    Oh, and its starting to look like people with more than 1 job counts as more than 1 job, but income level calculations are based on number of earners, not number of jobs.

    So essentially, the numbers are screwed. People are still working for less, they are just working more.

  9. 9.

    BinkyBoy

    July 29, 2005 at 1:26 pm

    Oh, and just to clarify the increase in GDP?

    The value of the dollar finally increased with the re-adjustment of the Yuan and a slightly reduced deficit figure.

    Its amazing what happens when you actually analyze the results instead of just picking the most promising of the data and publishing it, huh?

  10. 10.

    Kimmitt

    July 29, 2005 at 2:00 pm

    That suggested that recovery in the job market isn’t fanning inflation on the compensation front.

    Um, it’s not “inflation” when workers are more productive and therefore earn more. That’s “real growth.”

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