US Business Cycle Report Says ‘Economic Expansion Continues’....

theepochtimes ^ | 2/13/2020 | TOM OZIMEK

[caww]

Multiple business cycle indicators in the study show 'economic data has continued to improve'.....American economy presses forward with grit, and there are good reasons for optimism.

The business cycle, also known as the economic cycle, is the up and down movement of gross domestic product (GDP) around its long-term growth trend.

Recession, or prolonged economic contraction, is generally understood to be when GDP dips below zero for two successive quarters. The U.S. economy is currently in its 11th year of a record-setting uninterrupted expansion.

The most recent GDP number came in at 2.1 percent in the final quarter of 2019, according to official figures from the Commerce Department, by most accounts a respectable showing.

The current GDP growth forecast for the first quarter of 2020 is around 2.5 percent, Reece noted in the report.

U.S. wages are now growing at about a 3 percent annual pace, the unemployment rate is 3.6 percent, and job growth has more than kept up with an increase in the workforce.

“There is nothing about this economy that is out of kilter or imbalanced,” Powell insisted.

[House Atreides]

DemocRATS weep.

[cuban leaf]

So, even if things turned south right this minute, it would not be a “recession” for half a year. And once that “half year” mark is after november, the economy may not be all that damaging to trump even if it does turn south.

[Crucial]

Powell is setting Trump, the Republicans and the economy up for a fall. US manufacturing is declining and the national debt is huge thanks to Bush and particularly Obama. The Fed keeps growing the economy but rates shouldn’t have to be this low this long. Just my two cents...