Monday, May 6, 2013

Slowed economic growth in the US



                The article discusses that usually economic growth was gaining speed at an annual rate of 2.5% for the first quarter of every year. The department of commerce released a statement saying that GDP had grown 2.5% in the first quarter after growth almost stalled at 0.4% in the fourth quarter of the preceding year. However even with the surge in GDP between quarters it still did not meet economists expectations which were set at 3%. Much of this growth is attributed to the increase in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two thirds of US economic activity. Consumer spending increased at a 3.2% pace, the fastest growth since the later part of 2010. This was a welcome increase seeing as how the previous quarter saw only a 1.8% in growth. Also attributing to the economic growth was a surge in people purchasing vehicles as well as more money from utilities due to a longer and colder winter than average.
          
      Even though economic growth did not meet the expectations I believe that this is little more than a slight bump in the road. Yes, we did not meet the expectations of 3%, but it was still a significant increase from the 0.4% we had the quarter before. Our economy is still recovering from the recession and will take time to do so, I’m sure that we will see this happen again, but we will make progress and we will recover.

3 comments:

  1. Economy has been showing slow signs of recovery, but it has been improving. I think it might be worth looking at what quarters of the year see the highest growth, as it could tell us whether this growth is part of usual trend or a sign of an actual recovery.

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  2. When looking at a large economy like the U.S one can not expect smooth sailing growth. Fluctuations are common and even expected, so I don't think anyone should be worried when they se this happening.

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