Posted on 04/28/2017 7:32:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy turned in the weakest performance in three years in the January-March quarter as consumers sharply slowed their spending. The result underscores the challenge facing President Donald Trump in achieving his ambitious economic growth targets.
The gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, grew by just 0.7 percent in the first quarter following a gain of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The slowdown primarily reflected slower consumer spending, which grew by just 0.3 percent after a 3.5 percent gain in the fourth quarter. It was the poorest showing in more than seven years.
Economists attributed the sharp slowdown in consumer spending to shrinking utility bills due to warmer weather, a drop-off in auto sales and a delay in sending out tax refund checks by the IRS, which also dampened spending.
Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said he expected consumer and government spending to bounce back, leading to a much stronger second quarter.
"Still, the report will mark a rough start to the administration's high hopes of achieving 3 percent or better growth, not the kind of news it was looking for to cap its first 100 days in office," Guatieri said in a note to clients.
Averaging the two quarters, they forecast growth of around 2 percent for the first half of this year. That would be in line with the mediocre performance of the eight-year economic expansion, when growth has averaged just 2.1 percent, the poorest showing for any recovery in the post-World War II period.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Fake statistics from the Obama appointees.
Oh no!! The dreaded HUNDRED DAYS again!!!
Growth could be 9 percent in 2020 but the FIRST HUNDRED DAYS IT WAS BAD!!!!!
Obamacare will be replaced but not in the first HUNDRED DAYS
NK will be dealt with but not in the first HUNDRED DAYS!!!
Just wow. This article has a slightly narrow bias :)
RE: Fake statistics from the Obama appointees.
So, what do you reckon is the right number?
Sure doesn’t jibe with the very high “Consumer Confidence” stats we’ve seen since mid Nov et seq, does it?
What? Because it doesn’t tell a favorable message to our President? Not that I blame him in the slightest because I don’t but for heavens sake drop the hero worship. Not everything reported that may be negative towards our President is fake news. Yelling fake news at every article not favorable is akin to plugging your ears yelling lah lah lah lah lah I don’t hear you lah lah lah lah
Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said he expected consumer and government spending to bounce back, leading to a much stronger second quarter.
...
The slower growth was momentum from Obama the Jihadist. Investors know that Trump is on the right track. Trump can also use these numbers as justification for his tax cut plan.
Two months of the first quarter was still Obama. Can the entire GDP of the USA really shift in a period of two months?
It is going to take a while for any changes to manifest itself in Industry real numbers. New equipment, increases in production, etc. due to decreased regulatory burden or things like that take time to show up in statistics.
I bet a lot of that “consumer spending” went into the stock market and will ultimately be spent when profits are taken.
The Obama to Trump comparisons in this area are just BS. The definitions have been tweaked to not be too meaningful and numbers are thrown out to look good politically and then have to be revised later. And any 4th quarter 2016 is suspect because of the election. Obama had already wrapped up so hard to give him compliment or complaint on the results.
Yeah - like anyone could turn a crappy economy around in 100 days - it usually takes a couple years for major events to actually show their impact, good or bad.
That is a reality check and risk. Changes will take time to see the results of. We get the reports in the news of new jobs, business startups, expansions, etc., but it will take time for those to translate into measurable jobs. Media and Dems will pounce on the “failure” to show immediate results.
Well considering that every single bit of bad economic news between January 2009 and January 2017 was blamed on the President’s immediate predecessor, I think it’s fair to do so now and blame slow first quarter growth on Obama.
We just paid our taxes and gasp
There’s not gonna be much spending in nonessentials here for the rest ov the year.
Given the big hit of obamacare and taxes I imagine many others are in retrench mode
And btw do these propagandists even read what they write? Why would
“ shrinking utility bills due to warmer weather” lead to less consumer spending?
D’ oh
We've seen a very good start on regulations, but tax cuts are yet to come.
I thought that when I saw the low jobs created number for last month.
Yep. We just sent them a big check too. On top of what we paid all year. I had to cut spending and save up for it. Now I have to start over again to pay again next year. Screw them and their spending.
Retail Sales Solid, Despite March Snow
https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-says-later-easter-expected-bring-record-spending
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