Job Worries Linger, But The Economy Is Looking Good
Five years after the Great Recession ended, where are we with this recovery?
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department and the Federal Reserve both answered by saying, in effect:
We're in a sweet spot — growing at a decent rate with good reason for optimism.
Or as the Fed blandly put it, "economic activity will expand at a moderate pace."
President Obama, speaking on the economy in Kansas City, Mo., was more effusive.
After a brutal recession, "we have fought back. We have got back off our feet, we have dusted ourselves off," Obama said. "Construction is up. Manufacturing is back. Our energy, our technology, our auto industries — they're all booming."
Most economists agree the signposts are pointing up. New numbers provide evidence that "the economy is healthy and will continue to grow at an above-average rate in the second half of this year and into 2015," IHS Global Insight chief U.S. economist Doug Handler said in his written assessment.
The upbeat day started with the Commerce Department saying GDP, or gross domestic product, rose at a robust 4 percent pace during April, May and June.
Economists were relieved to see the key measure of all goods and services rebound after a dismal winter. Back in January, February and March, when frigid temperatures and unusual snowstorms kept many shoppers at home, the economy shrank by 2.1 percent.
But then consumers came out of hibernation. Most economists had predicted a springtime bounce back of 3 percent, and were surprised to see the surge to 4 percent.
When the past 12 months are tallied together, growth evens out to about 2.4 percent over the period, a moderate pace.
Economists were still chewing over the GDP report when another important announcement came out at 2 p.m.
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