Free Republic

The U.S. economy grew less than previously thought in the first three months of the year, expanding at an annual pace of just 1.3 percent, revised government data showed Thursday. The downward revision was primarily driven by data showing that consumer spending grew by significantly less than previously estimated. This was the smallest expansion in gross domestic product in almost two years. The prior estimate had the economy growing at a 1.6 percent pace in the first quarter. Consumer spending grew an an annualized pace of two percent in the first quarter, the new figures show, down from the previous...

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that the White House is okay with the latest GDP report, “especially once you get under the hood, you take out some of those more volatile components, consumer spending and investment look great.” And “the underlying economy is solid as ever.” Guest host Edward Lawrence asked, “When you dig into this GDP report…you find that the first quarter personal consumption grew at 2.5%, the non-defense government spending grew at 0.3%, but if you look back to the fourth...

The growth of the U.S. economy in the second quarter was revised lower on Wednesday, as weaker business spending more than offset stronger consumer spending. The government said that gross domestic product grew at a 2.1 percent annual pace in the the three months from April through June. The first estimate had the economy growing 2.4 percent in the quarter. Even after the downward revision, the economy is still growing faster than what many economists consider its long-run potential. Officials at the Federal Reserve have said that they thin the economy needs to grow by less than potential—which they estimate...

Russian military forces have not made the kinds of gains they expected in Ukraine and have faced more resistance than anticipated from Ukrainian forces, according to a senior U.S. defense official. After two days of war, Ukrainian command and control is still intact and no population centers have been taken. And Russia has yet to achieve air superiority with Ukraine’s air and missile defense capability still working, though degraded, the defense official told reporters Friday. "The Russians have lost a little bit of their momentum," the defense official told reporters, speaking on background.

President Joe Biden acknowledged Tuesday his coronavirus team had “gone a little slower” updating guidance for vaccinated Americans. The president spoke about upcoming changes to the Centers for Disease Control guidance during a virtual conversation with American governors addressing the fight against the coronavirus and the push to get people vaccinated