What They Are Saying About Today’s GDP Numbers

In Another Sign Of The Dismal Economy, Economic Growth Slowed In The Second Quarter To The Weakest Pace In A Year

_____________________________________________________________________

GDP SLOWED TO 1.5 PERCENT IN THE SECOND QUARTER, RENEWING FEARS OF ANOTHER RECESSION

Politico: “U.S. Economic Growth Slows To 1.5 Percent.” (Tim Mak, “U.S. Economic Growth Slows To 1.5%,” Politico, 7/27/12)

The New York Times: “The United States Economy Grew By A Tepid 1.5 Percent Annual Rate In The Second Quarter.” “The United States economy grew by a tepid 1.5 percent annual rate in the second quarter, losing the momentum it had appeared to be gaining earlier this year, the government reported Friday.” (Shaila Dewan, “U.S. Economy Slowed To A Tepid 1.5% Rate Of Growth,” The New York Times , 7/27/12)

Reuters: “Gross Domestic Product Expanded At A 1.5 Percent Annual Rate Between April And June, The Weakest Pace Of Growth Since The Third Quarter Of 2011, The Commerce Department Said On Friday.” (Lucia Mutikani, “Wary Consumers, Trade Curb U.S. Growth In Q2,” Reuters, 7/27/12)

The Associated Press: “The U.S. Economy Grew At An Annual Rate Of Just 1.5 Percent From April Through June, As Americans Cut Back Sharply On Spending.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Economic Growth Pulled Back Further During The Second Quarter Of The Year.” “U.S. economic growth pulled back further during the second quarter of the year as consumer spending slowed–a reading that suggests domestic fiscal worries may becoming a more significant drag.” (Eric Morath and Sarah Portlock, “U.S. Growth Slow In 2^nd Quarter,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/27/12)

CNN: Economic Growth Is “Down Significantly” From 2% To 1.5 %. “Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic health, grew at an annual rate of1.5% from April to June, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s down significantly from a 2% rate in the first three months of the year.” (Annalyn Censky, “GDP Report: U.S. Economy Slowed In Second Quarter,” CNN Money, 7/27/12)

USA Today: “ The U.S. Economy Slowed In The Spring, With Second-Quarter Growth Barely Half The Pace Earlier In The Year.” “The U.S. economy slowed in the spring, with second-quarter growth barely half the pace earlier in the year, the government reported today.” (Tim Mullaney, “Economy Weak In Second Quarter, GDP Grows At 1.5% Rate,” USA Today , 7/27/12)

The Associated Press: “The 1.5 Percent Growth Rate In The Second Quarter Was The Weakest” Since Last Year’s July-September Quarter. “The 1.5 percent growth rate in the second quarter was the weakest since the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, expanded at a 1.3 percent rate in the July-September quarter last year.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

• AP: “The Slowdown In Growth Adds To Worries That The Economy Could Be Stalling Three Years After The Recession Ended.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

The Associated Press: “GDP Report Confirms Fears Of Economic Slowdown.” (“GDP Report Confirms Fears Of Economic Slowdown,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

• AP: “Economists Think Another Recession Is Possible.” (“Economists Think Another Recession Is Possible,” The Associated Press, 7/27/12)

The Wall Street Journal ‘s Sudeep Reddy: “A Decelerating Economy, Again: U.S. GDP Slows To 1.5 % In The Second Quarter From 2% In The First Quarter.” (Sudeep Reddy,Twitter Feed, 7/27/12)

• Reddy: “The Revisions: Economic Recovery Is Less Robust Than Initially Thought. Second Weakest Of The Post-WWII Era…” (Sudeep Reddy, Twitter Feed, 7/27/12)

The Associated Press: “Growth At Or Below 2 Percent Isn’t Enough To Lower The Unemployment Rate.” “Growth at or below 2 percent isn’t enough to lower the unemployment rate, which was 8.2 percent last month. And most economists don’t expect growth to pick up much in the second half of the year. Europe’s financial crisis and a looming budget crisis in the U.S. are expected to slow business investment further.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

• CNN: Current Growth Is Half Of What Is Needed To Make A Significant Impact On Unemployment. “The economy needs to grow around 3% a year to bring the unemployment rate down significantly, and since consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the economy, it too needs to grow around 3%.” (Annalyn Censky, “GDP Report: U.S. Economy Slowed In Second Quarter,” CNN Money, 7/27/12)

Morning Money’s Ben White: “It’s Objectively Bad.” “As with jobs #, it really doesn’t matter anywhere but Wall Street that 1.5% GDP beat putrid expectations. It’s objectively bad.” (Ben White, Twitter Feed, 7/27/12)

Bloomberg: “The U.S. Economy Expanded At A Slower Pace In The Second Quarter As A Softening Job Market Prompted Americans To Curb Spending.” (Shobhana Chandra, “Economy In U.S. Grows At 1.5% Rate As Consumer Spending Cooled,”Bloomberg, 7/27/12)

• Bloomberg: Retail Sales Fell For A Third Consecutive Month, The Longest Period Of Declines Since 2008. “Recent data signal consumers are reluctant to step up purchases. Retail sales fell in June for a third consecutive month, the longest period of declines since 2008. Same-store sales rose less than analysts’ estimates at retailers including Target Corp. (TGT) and Macy’s Inc. (M).” (Shobhana Chandra, “Economy In U.S. Grows At 1.5% Rate,” Bloomberg, 7/27/12)
• CNN: Consumer Spending Fell From 2.4% To 1.5%. “But spending grew at a 1.5% annual rate, down from 2.4% in the first quarter, showing that households are continuing to deleverage three years after the recession.” (Annalyn Censky, “GDP Report: U.S. Economy Slowed In Second Quarter,” CNN Money, 7/27/12)

The Commerce Department Revised The Growth Of The Past Three Years Downward

Bloomberg: “The First Year Of The Recovery From The Worst Recession In The Post-World War II Era Was Even Weaker Than Previously Estimated.” “With today’s release, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis also issued revisions dating back to the first quarter of 2009. The changes showed the first year of the recovery from the worst recession in the post-World War II era was even weaker than previously estimated.” (Shobhana Chandra, “Economy In U.S. Grows At 1.5% Rate As Consumer Spending Cooled,” Bloomberg, 7/27/12)

The New York Times: The Commerce Department Revised Down The Growth Rate Of The Past Three Years To 0.3 Percent From 0.4 Percent. “The agency now estimates average annual growth of 0.3 percent over the three-year period, rather than 0.4 percent.” (Shaila Dewan, “U.S. Economy Slowed To A Tepid 1.5% Grate Of Growth,” The New York Times, 7/27/12)

The New York Times ‘ Binyamin Applebaum: “But The Latest Revisions Also Underscore That On The Whole The Recession Was Much Worse, And The Recovery Much Slower, Than We Understood At The Time.” (Binyamin Applebaum, “New Figures Put Recession And Recovery In Focus,” The New York Times , 7/27/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Revisions Show That 2010 Had Weaker Growth Than Expected. “Year-by-year, the revisions showed stronger growth in 2009 and 2011 than had been previously reported, but weaker growth in 2010.” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)

• The Wall Street Journal: “Economic growth in 2010 was revised down to a 2.4% gain from a 3.0% gain.” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)
• The Wall Street Journal: In 2010, Consumer Spending, Business Investment And Inventories Were All Down. “ The new data showed there were downward revisions to business investment, consumer spending and inventories.” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)

The U.S. Has “Never Been So Sluggish This Long Into A Recovery”

USA Today : “The U.S. Economy Has Never Been So Sluggish This Long Into A Recovery. The Great Recession Officially Ended In June 2009.” (Tim Mullaney, “Economy Weak In Second Quarter, GDP Grows At 1.5% Rate,” USA Today , 7/27/12)

• AP: “The U.S. Economy Has Never Been So Sluggish This Long Into A Recovery.” “The U.S. economy has never been so sluggish this long into a recovery. The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

The Wall Street Journal: This Is The Second Slowest Economic Recovery Since World War II . “The current economic recovery is less robust than initially thought and – through its first two-and-half years – the second-weakest rebound of the post World War II era, according to data the Commerce Department released Friday.” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)

• WSJ: Economic Growth During The Obama Administration Has Been Revised Further Down, From 6.2% To 5.8%. “From the second quarter of 2009, when the recession ended, through 2011, the economy grew a total of 5.8%, a downward revision from a 6.2% gain, the recasting of the past three years’ gross domestic product figures found.” .” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)
• WSJ: Only One Recovery Period Over The Last 60 Years Has Seen Slower Growth. “Only the brief 4-quarter recovery in 1980 and 1981, when the economy grew a total of 4.4%, was weaker in the past 60 years.” (Eric Morath And Sarah Portlock, “Current Recovery Second Slowest Postwar Rebound,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics,” 7/27/12)

THE ECONOMY’S “SLUGGISHNESS” PRESENTS A CHALLENGE FOR OBAMA’S REELECTION AND COULD COST HIM A SECOND TERM

The Wall Street Journal: “The Numbers Are A Potential Blow To President Barack Obama’s Reelection Campaign.” (Eric Morath and Sarah Portlock, “U.S. Growth Slow In 2^nd Quarter,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/27/12)

The Associated Press: “The Lackluster Economy Is Raising Pressure On President Barack Obama.” “The lackluster economy is raising pressure on President Barack Obama in his re-election fight with Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.” (Martin Crutsinger, “US Economic Growth Slowed To 1.5 Pct. Rate In Q2,” The Associated Press , 7/27/12)

Reuters: “The Ailing Economy Could Cost President Barack Obama A Second Term In Office When Americans Vote In November.” (Lucia Mutikani, “Wary Consumers, Trade Curb U.S. Growth In Q2,” Reuters, 7/27/12)

The New York Times : The “Sluggishness” Of The Economy Is A Challenge To Obama “Who Must Sell His Economic Record To Voters As The Recovery Slows.” “The sluggishness of the recovery makes the United States more vulnerable to trouble in Europe and increases the likelihood of more stimulus from the Federal Reserve, which has lowered its forecasts in recent weeks. It also illustrates the election-season challenge to President Obama, who must sell his economic record to voters as the recovery slows.” (Shaila Dewan, “U.S. Economy Slowed To A Tepid 1.5% Grate Of Growth,” The New York Times, 7/27/12)