Wednesday, September 30th, the Federal Government reported the final revised number for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Second Quarter. The U.S. economy contracted at -1.2% which was greatly improved over the -6.4% drop for first quarter of 2009. GDP measures all economic activity within U.S. borders.
Consumer and Business spending were better than forecast estimates. Consumer spending retracted at -.9% which was below analyst expectations for a -1.2% drop. Consumer spending represents 2/3 of total U.S. economic activity. Additionally, business investment only fell -9.6% instead of the forecast -10.9%, a better than 1.3% to the good. It’s widely speculated that GDP will see the first positive number in third quarter of 2009, ending four consecutive quarters of decline.
You might look at all the negative numbers and see the glass half empty, however, the rate in which the economy is shrinking has slowed measurably. I see the glass half full and look forward to any recovery (slow, protracted or otherwise) filling up any glass.
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