Hooray! GDP Up 1.5%

27 Jul, 2012 by William Teach

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The numbers for the 2nd quarter GDP are out, and some are celebrating, since some expected 1.3% (some expected 1.5%, though), and got 1.5%. Um, a clue for those celebrating: 1.5% sucks.

(Bloomberg) The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace in the second quarter as a softening job market prompted Americans to curb spending.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 1.5 percent annual rate after a revised 2 percent gain in the prior quarter, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 1.4 percent increase. Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the world’s largest economy, grew at the slowest pace in a year.

Apparently, the Obama plan “worked”.

Drew M: “Clearly these numbers have been taken out of context.”

Ed Morrissey: “Expectations must have been pretty low for a 1.5% GDP to spark optimism.”

Strangely, 2011 4th was revised up from 3.0% to 4.1%, which is a strange jump, however, that makes the 2012 slowdown look even worse than it is. Which is pretty bad.

However, don’t forget, the private sector is doing fine