Thursday morning, the Commerce Department released its latest revisions to 4th Quarter GDP estimates. Two months ago, preliminary data showed the economy contracting by 0.1% in the October-December period. Today’s data showed the economy was essentially flat, expanding by just 0.4%. In a worrisome revision, however, personal consumer spending growth was revised down to 1.8%,… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Consumer
AP: ‘Massive Government Spending Cuts’ Caused Sharp March Consumer Confidence Decline
On February 28, though he hedged a bit, Martin Crutsinger at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, wrote the following about prospects for economic growth: "The only impediment may be the across-the-board government spending cuts that kick in Friday — especially if those cuts remain in place for months." Having established the template, the… Read more »
Freshly Flush, the Consumer Is Back
Fresh data suggest a growing number of Americans are becoming more comfortable borrowing—a development that could fuel more spending and give the sluggish recovery a lift. Source: WSJ.com: Politics And Policy
Consumer Spending Plummets After Payroll Tax Increase
When President Barack Obama and Congress agreed to increase the federal payroll tax by two percent to temporarily avert the so-called fiscal cliff in January, Americans were left with less money to spend. Now, some of the country’s largest companies are seeing sales plummet as a result. On top of high gas prices, job uncertainty,… Read more »