danivon wrote:Is your economy actually shrinking? Ours shrank by 0.7% in Q2. I believe in the US that would be expressed at the annualised rate of 2.8%. We have now had negative growth in agate since the change of government in 2010.

The market consensus is for a feeble expansion of 1.8 per cent over the previous quarter at a seasonally adjusted annualised rate but even that may prove too high. Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm, estimates that growth was only 1.3 per cent.
The US economy grew at a pace of 1.9 per cent during the first quarter of 2012.

By the way, lobby group that promotes one type of fuel may not be 100% honest about the existence of other types of fuel, and - last I checked - the President did not write EPA mandates in 2007, and it appears that those of 2011 are much lower. Looks like someone tried to help the refiners meet lower targets. What rotters, eh?

To recap: Congress subsidized a product that didn't exist, mandated its purchase though it still didn't exist, is punishing oil companies for not buying the product that doesn't exist, and is now doubling down on the subsidies in the hope that someday it might exist. We'd call this the march of folly, but that's unfair to fools.

Republicans are doing their own voter surveys, and they note that Mr. Obama's problem is that his words cause an emotional response, and that they disturb voters in nearly every demographic.

It's why Mr. Obama's "out of context" complaints aren't getting traction. The Republican National Committee's response to that gripe was to run an ad that shows a full minute of Mr. Obama's rant at the Roanoke, Va., campaign event on July 13. In addition to "you didn't build that," the president also put down those who think they are "smarter" or "work harder" than others. Witness the first president to demean the bedrock American beliefs in industriousness and exceptionalism. The "context" only makes it worse.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, as Americans cut back sharply on spending. The slowdown in growth adds to worries that the economy could be stalling three years after the recession ended.

The Commerce Department also revised its growth estimates for the past three years. Those revisions showed that the economy contracted 3.1 percent in 2009, slightly less than the 3.5 percent previously reported. Growth in 2010 was put at 2.4 percent, down from 3 percent, with growth in 2011 at 1.8 percent instead of 1.7 percent.

The U.S. economy has never been so sluggish this long into a recovery. The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009.

Until a few weeks ago, many economists had been predicting that growth would accelerate in the final six months of the year. They pointed to gains in manufacturing, home and auto sales and lower gas prices.

Doctor Fate wrote:So, help me, liberals, who is out of touch? A President who thinks his plans worked, although we're in the worst recovery ever and growth is less than half of what it was in 2009, or they guy who isn't sure London is ready for the Olympics?

danivon wrote:

Doctor Fate wrote:So, help me, liberals, who is out of touch? A President who thinks his plans worked, although we're in the worst recovery ever and growth is less than half of what it was in 2009, or they guy who isn't sure London is ready for the Olympics?

If your quote is correct, annualised GDP growth is about 4.5% points higher for 2012Q2 than it was for the year of 2009.

We'll take #romneyshambles elsewhere, eh?

danivon wrote:Not being a mind-reader, I can't explain how anyone 'thinks' anything.

I would point out that a Stimulus will not have an immediate effect (although your own quote suggests that the recession was less steep than first thought, which could be attributed in part to actions taken during it), and of course that Obama didn't actually inherit a growing (or even flat) economy.

And given that the USA is still growing, despite very large headwinds from around the world, and that we cannot know now what would have happened without the stimulus, how can you say it hasn't 'worked'.

The number of U.S. workers filing applications for jobless benefits rose last week, continuing an uneven pattern that suggests job creation was likely modest in July.

Initial jobless claims, an indication of layoffs, increased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000 in the week ended July 28, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast 370,000 new applications for jobless benefits last week.

Claims for the July 21 week were revised up to 357,000 from an initially reported 353,000.

Underemployment

While the unemployment rate moves headlines every month -- the latest, for July, comes out Friday -- the "underemployment" rate, or "U-6" rate, includes everyone else affected by the moribund job market. See which states have worst underemployment.

Still the four-week moving average of claims, which covers nearly all of July, fell by 2,750 to 365,500, the lowest level since March. The moving average is considered a more-reliable measure because it smooths out weekly data.

A Labor Department official said claims are volatile in July due to temporary layoffs in the automotive industry.

The numbers come a day ahead of July's payroll report. Typically job creation increases when layoffs decline.

Economists expect that the economy added 95,000 jobs in July, which would be a slight improvement from the 80,000 added in June. They see the unemployment rate stuck at 8.2%.

Policy makers at the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the economy has decelerated and growth in employment has been slow in recent months.

The Labor Department reported Friday that 44 states in all saw their jobless rate go up, with four states seeing no change at all. Only Idaho and Rhode Island — along with Washington, D.C. — saw their rates drop last month.

The economy added 163,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said earlier this month, a figure that beat expectations and outpaced the sluggish job growth of the previous three months.

Lower-wage occupations, with median hourly wages of $7.69 to $13.83, accounted for 21 percent of job losses during the retraction. Since employment started expanding, they have accounted for 58 percent of all job growth.

The occupations with the fastest growth were retail sales (at a median wage of $10.97 an hour) and food preparation workers ($9.04 an hour). Each category has grown by more than 300,000 workers since June 2009.