Posted on 05/29/2014 5:45:43 AM PDT by kristinn
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter, but there are signs activity has since rebounded.
The Commerce Department on Thursday revised down its growth estimate to show gross domestic product shrinking at a 1.0 annual rate.
It was the worst performance since the first quarter of 2011 and reflected a far slower pace of inventory accumulation and a bigger than previously estimated trade deficit.
The government had previously estimated GDP growth expanding at a 0.1 percent rate. It is not unusual for the government to make sharp revisions to GDP numbers as it does not have complete data when it makes its initial estimates.
The decline in output, which also reflected a plunge in business spending on nonresidential structures, was sharper than Wall Street's expectations. Economists had expected the revision to show GDP contracting at a 0.5 percent rate.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Just need a few more tons of green ink, and fresh paper, zero and the feds will have this puppy humming along in no time.
Better lock up the wheel barrows, they are going to become valuable.
It’s the regulatory snowstorm from the Executive Branch.
When do we cut off that infected limb?
Toothpicks? Shoes? What kind of manufacturing? Be specific.
It is not unusual for the government to make sharp revisions to GDP numbers
************
Revisions = sleight of hand to dress up the numbers. This article ties in with your comments; it exposes our descent into national financial ledgerdemain.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-29/our-make-it-look-good-economy-has-failed
“The essence of the U.S. economy is make it look good: never mind quality or long-term consequences, just make it look good today, this week, this month, this quarter: make the pink slime look like meat, make the company look profitable, make the low-quality product look good enough to close the sale, make the unemployment rate low enough to justify re-electing the toadies currently in power, make the body count of bad guys look good, and on and on—just makes the numbers look good now, the future will take care of itself.”
The White House will get on this now since they read about it in the news. They will investigate to find out what happened. In about 2017 they will know why these numbers went negative. They will ignore their findings.
Good post. You nailed it.
Don’t worry, be happy...the stock market, pre market on this news, is up today. Perhaps due to a finite number of stocks being chased by an infinite number of dollars??
That could be awkward if they go into a second recession "unexpectedly" and just before the election without anyone feeling like we left the first recession. Eventually people might wonder whether big government liberalism, higher taxes, more regulation, less reward for success and a bigger safety net for failure, topped by ObamaCare's mandates for employers and subsidies for those who don't work might be part of the problem instead of the solution.
Here is the history of Q4 GDP releases..
Advanced report Jan-14: Q4 GDP at 3.2%
Interim Report Feb-14: GDP at 2.4%
Final Report Mar-14: Q4 at 2.6%
In the meantime, no questions will be addressed by the White Hut because of the “ongoing investigation”.
I would not be shocked if Obamacare had something to do with it.
GDP growth in 2Q14 will be >2%
HD co-founder Ken Langone said on CNBC this morning that “slow economic growth is the price we pay for this insanity of regulation on businesses.”
America’s debt is 17.5 trillion, and that is (rapidly) growing.
Just saying.
Obamacare was actually a positive impact in the quarter. Seriously. That’s how it was counted.
Okay... Now what?
Everything people use everyday. Making things people use everyday is the only way to create real wealth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.