A Week of Bad News

The economic news this week was just horrible, yet Joe Biden claimed “we’re absolutely headed in the right direction.”  As bad as the news is, we’re left to wonder exactly which direction this Administration thinks is “right.”

Here’s a sampling of the week in numbers:

·         The GDP for the second quarter of 2010 was revised downward to an anemic 1.6%, from the previously estimated 2.4%.  The first quarter posted and encouraging 3.7% expansion. 

·         Business profits for the quarter were flat – just 0.1% of gain – after an encouraging first quarter growth of 11.4%.

·         Sales of existing homes in July tumbled 27%, the lowest in 15 years.  It was the largest monthly drop going back to 1968, and the lowest sales level since data collection began in 1963.

·         Durable goods orders rose 0.3% in July largely on aircraft orders.  Excluding transportation vehicles, orders fell 3.8%.

·         Weekly new unemployment claims of 473,000 were lower than the half-million the previous week, but the monthly average was the highest since last November.

·         Unemployment rates of 9.5% are now predicted to remain through the end of 2010.

·         Increasingly, economists are warning of a double dip recession.