Economy grew at better-than-expected 3.3 percent rate

[Nottingham]

Economy grew at better-than-expected 3.3 percent rate
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy grew at a better-than-expected 3.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the government reported today, raising hopes the country is finally on the verge of mounting a sustained rebound from the 2001 recession.

The increase in the gross domestic product -- the country's total output of goods and services -- for the April-June period was revised upward from a 3.1 percent estimate made a month ago, reflecting newfound strength in such areas as housing construction, which has been booming this year.

The 3.3 percent GDP growth rate was better than expected with most economists thinking the spring GDP figure would show no change from last month's 3.1 percent preliminary estimate, which had been an upward revision from the much weaker initial estimate of 2.4 percent made two months ago.

In a sign of the lingering effects of the country's hard times, the government also reported Friday that after-tax corporate profits dropped by 5 percent in the second quarter, the worst quarterly showing since a 6.5 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2001.

more....

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2121780


I'm sorry this is just a Plain Lie! I don't believe this statistic!
and all I see is a 33rd Degree Freemason code here for lets make this economy look rosy! ....with all the unemployed people out there
your going to need more than this! :bounce:

[Nottingham]

1. TiNNoire will appreciate this article!

:bounce:

[LiberalFighter]

48. This is the Govt Report

Corporate Profits
The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 0.4 percent in the second quarter, 0.2 percentage point more than in the preliminary estimate; this index increased 3.4 percent in the first quarter.
Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent in the first.

Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 25.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.7 percent in the first.

National defense increased 45.8 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 3.3 percent.

Nondefense decreased 5.4 percent, in contrast to an increase of 8.4 percent.

Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 0.2 percent, in contrast to an increase of 0.2 percent.


Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Personal Income and Outlays

[qanda]

2. Not at my house!

And for me that's all that counts.

[ixion]

3. how does the economy grow

when sales are down, layoffs continue, and there are almost no jobs available? :eyes:

[lanlady]

5. the defense sector

kept it all afloat. Subtract that, we're in negative territory.

[onehandle]

8. That's right...

A "growing" economy sustained by our tax dollars and our childrens' debts.

[mumon]

4. <Dana Carvey as Bush>Not gonna do it!</Dana Carvey as Bush>

They gotta be WELL over 4 % to start to make a dent in the number of jobs lost.

And income?

Not a chance we're keeping up.

[Gin]

6. It's all defense spending.

gin

[boxster]

7. And SUV and gas sales! n/t

[okieinpain]

38. has to be, there is not a lot of hiring in oklahoma. okay there never is a

lot of hiring in oklahoma, but even for oklahoma, this is pretty bad.

[macandcheese]

9. the economy is coming back!

There are so many viariables that make up our economy. Employment is a vital one, however its not the only one. Where do you think this budget busting deficit goes? Most of it hits our economy. The fed has also been running the printing press 24 hours a day (for better of for worse) - M1 and M2 have grown over 20% in just a year. All that money is going somewhere, and alot of it went to homeowners who refinanced.

[twilight]

10. right ... right ... keep telling yourself that .... hahaaaaaaa

I suppose that this explains why the DOW has dumped ~200 points this week eh?

Keep chanting that mantra: THE ECONONY IS COMING BACK, THE ECONOMY IS COMING BACK ... chant it until you file bankruptcy! hahahaaa!!!!

:kick:

[macandcheese]

16. this week!

Wow - stocks don't go up all the time? Your kidding! Well, I guess its not so bad that the nas is up close to 50% this year, and the dow and s&p500 are up 20% on the year.

[mbperrin]

35. Actually, the numbers are a whole lot worse than that!

January - the Dow at about 8600, close today at 9300+, about 8% up on the year , but DOWN about 20% from its historic high of about 11,700.

The NASDAQ in January was about 1350, today 1792, that's about 33% on the year, but DOWN about 64% from the historic 5000 range.

When you consider the effects on foreign investors losing their stake due to currency depreciation, expect more flight to save what they can and continuing downward pressure on both indices. To maintain foreign interest in the bond markets, interest rates will have to rise to account for the discount in value, or interest rates will rise in response to liquidity crunch as foreigners flee.

Future for stocks don't look too bright right now, pard!

(Course, if you're a broker, you get your commission no matter how fuc*king much your clients lose, right? Just keep the suckers stirring!)

[Lindacooks]

36. By the way, 'your' is not

the way to spell the contraction of 'you are'. It's:

YOU'RE

[hadrons]

11. nice to see you in favor of big government spending, macandcheese ....

New Dealer, huh? And I'm sure the growing deficit will have no effect on long-term interest rates :eyes:

[bushisanidiot]

15. Yeah The Money Is Going Somewhere (Halliburton, Bribes for "Coalition"

troops, etc.

Every state in the country has had to make painful cuts in education, health care programs, etc. while Cheney and Halliburton continue to feed at the tax payer's trough..

[paulk]

20. actually, I thought this was a perfectly reasonable post.

And you got people jumping all over your shit right away.

Hey Macandcheese - Rush mentioned DU the other day - so there's a real suspicion that newbies are infiltraters. So you better not say anything positive about the economy because there's a lot of people around here that are quite pleased that it sucks so much. Afterall, anything that makes Bush look bad must be a good thing, right?

[leesa]

28. I can tell you listen to rush

Open your eyes and look around you.

[paulk]

30. would you care to elucidate?

'Cause you better have a goddamn good reason for saying that.

I'm serious. Back it up.

Tell me why you think I listen to Rush.

Don't just throw some cheap ass comment like that out there and walk away.

[Romberry]

46. I don't listen to Rush and I also think...

...it was a reasonable post if you bothered to read it <I>carefully</I> and understand the implications.

[are_we_united_yet]

43. "Where do you think this budget busting deficit goes?"

Haliburton?

[Romberry]

45. I wouldn't call any of those things signs...

...that the economy is coming back. I'd call 'em slapping a coat of paint over the rot. Sell quick! :)

[patdem]

12. I need more information...details details...I ask...

To me this would be like 'gross receipts'? Am I correct???

Is this 'cash basis' or 'accrual'?

I would like to see a line item detailed list of 'sales'...

Food
Energy
Gasoline
Housing
Exports - Goods
Exports - Services
Domestic - Goods
Domestic - Services
Iraq - Military
Iraq - Rebuilding
Iraq - To other foreign countries for participation
Afghanistan - Milirary
Afghanistan - Rebuilding
Afghanistan - To other foreign countries for participation
Military - Peronell (salaries, housing, meals etc)
Military - Maintenance
Milirary - R & D
Military - Weapons and Capital expendidures

YOu get the idea...how much is consumer spending ..how much is government spendign...how much is money coming IN to the country from other nations,..and how much is just spent to other governments for nothing?

Because when orders are down for durable goods...that indicates a lag in spending...I need more information than just a news article that says ...OH...LOOK OVER THERE...THE ECONOMY IS IN GREAT SHAPE!!!

[Guaranteed]

17. What's most important is what % of the money being spent actually

....exists.

[mbperrin]

34. Gross Domestic Product is NOT sales!

It is simply the "market value" of all final goods PRODUCED in a quarter; there is no guarantee that a nickel of it will be sold, only that some store or wholesaler "ordered" it and hopes that it will be.

So when GDP goes up, you have several possibilities:
1) Actual expectations are up among wholesalers and retailers, and they could be right or wrong;
2) The actual rate of inflation is higher than the stated rate, and the number got bigger without any activity matching it;
3) The actual GDP could be lower, because the original number is incomplete or someone gave an early number.

This is why GDP is always revised TWICE, as the real and more accurate information is revealed to eliminate 2 and 3 above.

But again, GDP is not sales of any kind! No dollars are exchanged in its measurement! So why do we use it instead of actual sales? The numbers are easier to get. That's why.

[revcarol]

13. Jobs still hemorraghing, consumer confidence down,

durable goods orders down...nothing like looking at one indicator for the whole picture, is there? AAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!

[fizzana]

14. The business I'm in is a train wreck right now

We're in the invitation/party planning business in Los Angeles (generally a great market) and people who have been in this business for the past 20 years tell me the last 6 months have been far worse than anything they have ever seen.

On a general note, one of the recent factors in the economy has been the increased rise in productivity. Wall street always regards this as a positive sign but if a company's sales are increasing by 5% while productivity is increasing by a similar level, no new jobs are being created despite the growth. Rising corporate profits and rising corporate coffers are going to do diddly for the economy if others don't benefit.

[Nottingham]

18. Theres not much to Party about right now! Small Business Killed

because of this Presidency! :bounce:

[Yavin4]

19. If You Maxed Out Ten Credit Cards, Each With A $10,000 Limit

and put that money into your bank account, then you could say that you have $100,000 in cash in your bank account or you could say that you grossed $100,000 in cash for the year.

This is what the government is doing. It's borrowing billions of dollars, pumping it into the economy, and calling it growth. Remember, Bush has spent over $1 trillion dollars in the first three years of his presidency.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

25. Bingo and someone should tell "macandcheese" that.......

we are borrowing heavily and increasing our debt load!
Where the hell are we going to get money to pay for all of this!!!

[FlemingsGhost]

21. $20 says: Three months from now...

they will "ammend" that number to somewhere in the 2.0-2.5% range. It'll appear as a "business brief" paragraph, tucked away on the back page of your local rag.

Any takers?

C'mon, I'm giving 2:1 odds...

[paulk]

22. the part about housing construction -

I wonder...

There's tons of new buildng going on here in Denver - but most of it was already financed previous to the recession. I know of two recent multi - unit projects that never got off the ground because they were unable to get funding. So I really have to question whether housing can continue to pull up these stats.

The 4th quarter numbers and the 1st quarter of next year are really going to show us what direction the economy will go.

[Maeve]

23. This was discussed last month

And yes, a major, major portion of this is the cost of the Iraq occupation. Also, the housing market accounts for a big chunk--especially since many are buying the house while they can, with expectations that interest rates will go back up and/or costs will rise (lumber costs have been soaring, for example). Oil prices are also headed up, the tax "rebates" have been spent and the dollar's value may work either way (depending on how it affects foreign holdings of American debt, for example).

And then there is the continuing loss of jobs....

[trapper914]

24. A few other things...

Consumer spending in August missed the projection by a mile.

OPEC just announced they're going to limit production. Statistically, modern recessions are usually of the double-dip variety. We've only seen the first dip (president not included). Combined with the fact that almost every recession is accompanied by a rise in the cost of imported oil, I'm somewhat skeptical that we're out of the woods yet.

One wonders how consumer spending has risen while we continue to hemmorhage jobs. Could it be credit card spending, now that rates are so low? When they rise, will we see an unusually high number of bankruptcies?

[Maeve]

42. Will we see an unusually high number of bankruptcies?--yes, already

And a higher than usual number of foreclosures on homes--this rate dipped last month, but there is still a high number of payments in default. The re-financing boom helped, but there is a limit to that.

Newsweek just ran an article about the number of families on the edge financially--one of the greater predictors of whether you will have to file in your life is if you have children.

[diplomats]

26. Much of this growth was because of the Iraq war

the real test will be third-quarter growth.

[Torgo]

27. Do you think that a 46% annual rise in defense spending might be...

the reason?

I sure do!

The rest of the manufacturing, transportation, financial sectors just plain suck!

This whole deal is a big lie!

[salin]

29. Bush: more growth than expected... time for another tax cut!

just a prediction.

[snippy]

33. The Tax Cut Monkeys want another tax cut next year.

Tax Cut Monkeys demand a tax cut every year and fling their own feces at everyone and everything until they get it and then gleefully assist in the rape of their own offspring.

[veganwitch]

31. and by "economy" they mean...

CEOs' salaries.

[snippy]

32. Without the increase in government spending the growth rate was 1.69%.

The increased government spending was all federal spending on national defense. Federal government nondefense spending and state and local government spending all decreased very slightly.

http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrel/gdpnewsrelease.htm

[uhhuh]

37. Yep.

"Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 25.5 percent
in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.7 percent in the first. National defense increased
45.8 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 3.3 percent. Nondefense decreased 5.4 percent, in contrast to
an increase of 8.4 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross
investment decreased 0.2 percent, in contrast to an increase of 0.2 percent."

From the report. This is the war bubble.

[sandnsea]

40. Thank you Snippy

I was looking for the war spending. We already went through this when the figures were released the first time!

[JCMach1]

47. Read the fine print and realize it ain't all that pretty

good catch snippy.

[jamesinca]

39. Let us ot forget that on thursday it was reported

that durable goods sales had dropped in August and September. I guess all these people spent their refund checks in the second quarter and used some extra cash from the refinancing of their homes to buy some needed goods. But the third quarter should be interesting to say the least, no tax checks, the refinancing boom is gone, unemployment is up, heating oil is going to go up along with the cost of gas, no major shopping holidays to speak of. I will venture out and say that the shopping season will be flat this year for Christmas.

[Mari333]

41. 2 gifts for Xmas each this year and cheap ones in this house

Property taxes UP, many homes for sale here...My elderly mother files for Bankruptcy (Meds or Food, she cant afford both), no jobs in this town making more then minimum wage, people chalking up credit cards, Bankruptcy up 400%, US trillions of dollars in deficit and climbing and dont forget


www.costofwar.com

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953

[Romberry]

44. Lesee here. The economy grew at a 3.3 percent rate but....

...we are pumping a full 5 percent of GDP (six percent if you count the money raided from Social Security) into it via deficit spending.

"Honey! I made a thousand dollars today"!

"Wow! That's great. How did you do it?'

"Took a cash advance on the Visa card. Let's celebrate!"