Two new sets of data show consumers are spending strongly but not feeling confident. U.S. gross domestic product climbed at a seasonal and inflation-adjusted 4.3% annual rate in the quarter running from July through September, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday (Dec....
Consumer spending — the engine that drives the U.S. economy — is flagging, helping to reverse what seemed like relentless growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in previous quarters. On Thursday (June 26), the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the economy shrank by 0.5%...
Consumer spending, the chief engine of economic growth, was not enough to stop an overall pullback in U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). And with evidence of a slowing gains in disposable income, consumers’ appetite to keep spending look set to be tested. The Bureau of...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday (April 23) that the world’s governments should not let their support for those impacted by tariffs add to their already growing level of debt. “Fiscal support for businesses and communities impacted by severe trade dislocations should be both temporary...
November 27, 2024
The Bureau of Economic Analysis confirmed Wednesday (Nov. 27) that third-quarter GDP grew at a 2.8% rate, unchanged from a previous estimate. However, there are several puts and takes that bear watching, indicating where consumer spending, which has long been the key growth engine of the economy, might be headed. Deceleration remained a hallmark of […]
October 30, 2024
It’s a truism that as the U.S. consumer goes, so goes the economy. And consumers are still opening their wallets and purses, tapping to pay, clicking to pay, swiping their...
July 25, 2024
The newest reading on gross domestic product (GDP) — for the second quarter, only a few weeks in the books — shows a quickening pace of growth. And, yes, consumers...
April 25, 2024
And now it seems the slowdown is here. Markets slumped by more than 1% Thursday morning (April 25) on the latest reading on gross domestic product (GDP) growth, courtesy of...
July 30, 2026
Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed in the second quarter, according to an advance estimatereleased Thursday (July 30) by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.5% in the second quarter, down from an increase of 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the release. First […]
December 23, 2025
Two new sets of data show consumers are spending strongly but not feeling confident. U.S. gross domestic product climbed at a seasonal and inflation-adjusted 4.3% annual rate in the quarter...
April 23, 2025
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday (April 23) that the world’s governments should not let their support for those impacted by tariffs add to their already growing level of debt....
March 06, 2024
The U.S. Census Bureau revised its wholesale inventories estimate for January downward Wednesday (March 6). Total inventories dipped 0.3% in January compared with December 2023, rather than the drop of 0.1% the...