Friday, April 27, 2007

Economic Growth at a 4 Year Low

It was reported by the Commerce Department that economic growth slowed to a crawl in the first three months of 2007. The GDP for that period was 1.3% following a 2.5% growth rate in the last quarter of 2006. I have posted before that I believe the collapse of the housing market will lead to a recession. This data does nothing to change my mind.
Economic growth slowed to a near crawl of 1.3 percent in the first three months of 2007, the worst performance in four years. The main culprit: the housing slump.

The fresh reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, was even weaker than the 2.5 percent growth rate logged in the final three months of last year. The new figures underscored just how much momentum the economy has been losing as it copes with the strain of the troubled housing market, which has made some businesses more cautious in their spending.

Even though the economy slowed in the first quarter, inflation picked up — a development that will complicate the Fed’s work.
Read the rest of this article here.

No comments: