GDP surges 4 percent in second quarter

[Bob Of Burleson]

Myles Udland
BusinessInsider.com

The initial estimate for second quarter GDP showed the economy expanded at a 4% annualized rate.

Expectations were for GDP to grow 3%.

First quarter GDP was also revised up to contracting 2.1% from a previous estimate of 2.9%.

The report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis also showed that in Q2, personal consumption expenditures increased 2.5%, compared to 1.2% in Q1.

Durable goods spending increased 14% in 2, compared to 3.2% in Q1, with nondurable goods spending increasing 2.5% in Q2 compared to unchanged in Q1.

The report also showed that the change in real personal inventories added 1.66% to Q2 GDP after taking 1.16% off of Q1. Private business inventories increased $93.4 billion inQ2, better than both the $35.2 billion increase in Q1 and $81.8 billion increase in the fourth quarter of last year.

For 2011-2013, real GDP growth was revised to 2% from the previous estimate of 2.2%. From the fourth quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of this year, real GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.8%.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/q2-gdp-r ... z38xHKJr83

[LibraryLady]

But, but, I thought Obama had RUINED the US economy!

[GFB]

But, but, I thought Obama had RUINED the US economy!

Not really..he's not clever enough for that..he IS ruining the country though.

[ann jusko]

I never take the first numbers because they're always revised DOWNWARD.

[GFB]

I never take the first numbers because they're always revised DOWNWARD.

They're often revised..but could go either way.

[Red Oak]

But, but, I thought Obama had RUINED the US economy!

He is doing his part.

What are the odds that the Q2 stats will be revised downwards in a few months.

These optimistic stats are published to capture the brief attention of LIVs, who are oblivious to the later corrections.

If in the first qtr GDP contracted 2.1 percent and in second qtr expands 4 percent your first half GDP is ?

A) Obama loves me and gives me free stuff, so I don't care

B) You be Ray-Cyst

C) 1.9 percent

D) I'll wait for Q2 to be revised before I answer

[jellowrestling]

I never take the first numbers because they're always revised DOWNWARD.

They're often revised..but could go either way.

During this administration, I seem to recall them pretty consistently being revised downward.

[Mark]

I never take the first numbers because they're always revised DOWNWARD.

They're often revised..but could go either way.

During this administration, I seem to recall them pretty consistently being revised downward.

Yep, always.

[Red Oak]

The books are being cooked in advance of the mid-terms.

[Bob Of Burleson]

Auto Industry Contribution To US GDP
Is Way Up From 2011, When Fears
Of Double-Dip Recession
Made Consumers Wary

By Angelo Young
IBtimes.com

Buried in Wednesday’s second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product numbers released by the Department of Commerce is data on how much the auto industry’s contribution to the economy has grown in recent years. Amid a robust post-recession auto-sector recovery fueled largely by cheap credit, the contribution to the U.S. economy from new and used motor vehicles and auto parts has risen by nearly one percentage point compared to the second quarter of 2011.

Wednesday’s government data shows the American automotive marketplace contributed 0.42 of a percentage point of annualized growth to the nation’s 4 percent GDP growth in the second quarter, up from flat last year and negative growth in the same quarter of 2011.

Three years ago, the nation barely avoided a double-dip recession, after emerging in the second half of 2009 from the longest period of U.S. economic contraction in eight decades. Emerging from the Great Recession, the U.S. economy picked up in 2010 to nearly the level it is today. But then the economy hit a speed bump, slowing to less than 1 percent growth in the first quarter of 2011. The situation improved, consumer confidence rebounded and the auto industry began to speed up its recovery. This year, the number of new motor vehicle sales will return to pre-recession levels.

Helping to spur activity in the U.S. auto market have been record-low auto lending rates, which have pushed the total sum of loans to a record $902 billion, a 29 percent jump from just three years ago.

MORE

[Red Oak]

Oblama's Summer of Recovery 6.0

[GFB]

I never take the first numbers because they're always revised DOWNWARD.

They're often revised..but could go either way.

During this administration, I seem to recall them pretty consistently being revised downward.

They get revised because all of the data is not in.

To me that means, they should get all the data together sooner, or wait until you have it all in hand before making proclamations...but this is the government.

..and since GDP info is released the way it is, it has an effect on things.

There is a book called "How the Economy works" that I read about 8 or 10 years ago..the most boring book I ever read, but it had everything in there that explains all of this, like which data comes in which months.

I really learned a lot, and if you can get through it, all this will make some sense...(considering it's the government)

[Red Oak]

So how is Wall Street treating exception news ?

[jellowrestling]

It's a good sign of how bad the economy has sucked during the last six years that a 4% quarterly increase would be termed a "surge". During the Reagan years, that would be called a "dip".

[Bob Of Burleson]

Presidential market scoreboard: Reagan to Obama

[Red Oak]

Look at a GDP chart for the last 40 years.