According to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, the US economy is still growing but the pace has definitely eased up:
The Beige Book is published two weeks before policy makers meet on interest rates.
The survey underscored the Fed’s view that the recovery, while still moving forward, is progressing at a slower pace than earlier in the year. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said July 21 “the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain.”
U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter, versus 2.7 percent in the previous three months, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey before the government reports the figure on July 30.
Orders for durable goods declined 1 percent last month, after a revised 0.8 percent slide in May, a Commerce Department report showed today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for a 1 percent increase.
Pretty much every recovery ever includes a moderating phase after the initial bounceback, but this one has come sooner than many had hoped for.
But with inflation still so low, I see now reason to panic – interest rates aren’t going anywhere, and the rest of the world is still growing, too.
(Source: Business Week)
