Economy pissed off, ready to kick ass
Yahoo is showing a report that the economy is surprising the economic powers that be with its health.
US economic growth shot to an annual pace of 2.4 percent in the second quarter, shattering sluggish expectations.
Defying forecasts for growth closer to 1.5 percent, the US economy gave the clearest sign yet it is shaking off Iraq (news - web sites) war-inspired shock and gathering speed, with business investment finally back.
The return in business investment, a 52-year record surge in defense spending, robust consumer spending, and a red-hot housing market powered growth, early Commerce Department (news - web sites) estimates showed.
Other good news included:
Gross domestic product, which had grown at a sickly 1.4-percent pace in the first quarter, appeared to be responding to a double dose of tax cuts and 45-year record low interest rates.
Businesses, long cowed by the Iraq war uncertainties, lifted non-residential fixed investment by 6.9 percent, with spending on structures such as factories up by a 43-year high of 4.8 percent and equipment/software expenditure up 7.5 percent. "The economy truly does look to be on the mend," said Naroff Economic Advisors president Joel Naroff, noting that investment in buildings had climbed for the first time since 2001.
Consumers stepped up spending 3.3 percent despite lingering agony in the labor market.
On the jobless front, although the jobless rate is still high, at 6.4% (still far lower than most of Europe) new jobless benefits claims dropped by 5,000.
Good news all around.
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Now that was funny! Haha!
Now that was funny! Haha! Almost Onionesque. Maybe actually Onionesque. The headline, at least.
Buckethead, interesting
Buckethead, interesting article. I've been hearing noises that the economy is waking back up, and here's hoping.
Just a cautionary note on the unemployment front: although new jobless claims fell last month, and although unemployment rates fell too, this is not all good news. The fall in unemployment rates can be traced to people giving up looking for a job after a long-time lapse in unemployment, leaving their numbers unreported.
Productivity is up, and hopefully corporations are feeling more optimistic, but owing to the nature of the jobless recovery we're apparently in, it will be a loooong time before Joe Lunchpail and Jane Laptop can feel secure again.
Does anybody else want to snicker at the phrase "jobless recovery"? Though technically correct, it just seems off kilter and wrong, in the camp of phrases like "don't worry sir, it's just a little cancer," or "We're very sorry about your dog. We couldn't save him. Hey-- at least you still have your cat!"