First up is the frightening economic data, beginning with the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Income and Spending Report for August 2012, which showed that the economy has stalled.
According to Michael McKee, Economic Editor for Bloomberg TV (link to video report), the disastrous decline in personal income, from 0.4 percent in July to just 0.1 percent in August, is reflective of companies not hiring; and furthermore, the meager 0.1 percent increase in personal spending–which propels 70 percent of U.S. economy–indicates that any growth has ‘stalled-out.’
Let me repeat, companies are not hiring and economic growth has stalled–but, it gets worse.
The Commerce Department issued its’ third, and final, growth estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2nd quarter 2012, which it revised downward –to a paltry 1.3 percent annual rate–from its’ 1.7 percent [second] estimate released last month, the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2011, according to a Reuters article yesterday.
GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012 was 2.0 percent–are you sensing a really bad trend too?
But, there’s more–and it’s worse yet.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index, which is a barometer for manufacturing activity, plunged in the month of August to -0.87, from -0.12 in July, according to Matt Boesler’s September 24th Business Insider article.
The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, also slid to -0.47 in August, from -0.26 in July, its lowest level since June 2011 and its sixth consecutive reading below zero, indicating that growth in national economic activity was below its historical trend.
All four broad categories of indicators that make up the index deteriorated from July, with each making a negative contribution to the index in August.
At the very least, when all of these measures are considered, Barack Obama’s government policies and mountain of regulations have depressed our economy once again, and robbed it of real, meaningful job creation. Moreover, it would appear that the 3rd Quarter 2012 GDP growth figure, to be released 2 days after the first presidential debate, could very well come in below 1.0 percent, neutral or even negative–suggesting a ‘double-dip recession’ is under way.