U.S. economy surprises with strong 2.8% growth rate in second quarter
How 40% of Americans think the economy is fucked is beyond me.
As reported in Axios:
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.8% annualized rate in the second quarter—a faster rate than economists expected as consumer spending increased and businesses built up inventories, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
Why it matters: The new data raises confidence the economy has achieved a "soft landing" — healthy economic growth alongside cooling inflation.
Economists expected an annualized growth rate of 1.9% last quarter. The economy grew at a 1.4% rate in the first three months of the year.
Driving the news: The accelerated growth stemmed from a jump in inventory investment and consumer spending.
Companies also increased spending on equipment and intellectual property. That was partly offset by a slump in housing, the government said.
Personal consumption expenditures rose at a 2.3% annualized rate last quarter, up from the 1.4% in the first quarter.
Consumer spending contributed 1.6% to the rise in GDP, while private inventories added 0.82 percentage point.
The big picture: Gloomy forecasts of a recession over the past year have not come to pass.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to the highest in two-decades to restrain growth and bring down inflation—raising expectations those actions would tip the economy into a sharp slowdown.
Fed officials have cautiously suggested the economy has achieved a soft landing as inflation dissipates.
The central bank is expected to keep rates on hold at the policy meeting next week and set the table for a rate cut in September.
The bottom line: The economy continues to defy expectations of a slowdown.
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People, as we now know in detail, believe what they "see with their own eyes." They see that tomatoes are "up" and there is it, the whole economy. This phenomenon is even more true of the refusal to believe crime is down. Open a local newspaper, a Next Door feed, a Ring Feed--what you you see: Stories about crimes. Because that's what gets reported. Nothing about "Sally Mae walked peacefully home from the movies last night and no one accosted her." Or "Mr. Jones reported that no one had stolen his Amazon delivery from his porch yesterday." Much less "Ms Whoozit posted on Next door that not one of her friends or relatives has been murdered."
Harris needs to identify the gougers, and there are plenty of them. Our AG in MI is going after a gas station close to Detroit Metro Airport whose base gasoline sale price has been consistently $1.30 more per gallon than the average in this area. I honk the horn as I drive by it.
Harris needs to point to the "readjustments" in retail, mergers and the like, that are driving costs up (Kroger/Albertson's); and she can show that commercial space landlords are making up their losses from move-outs by raising the rents on retailers who have to pass it on to customers. There's an opportunity for educating consumers here.