While Obama Is Kicking It On The Vineyard, The Economy Battles Another Round Of Bad News And Lowered Expectations

“Gross Domestic Product Growth Rose At Annual Rate Of 1.0 Percent The Commerce Department Said, A Downward Revision Of Its Prior Estimate Of 1.3 Percent.” (“Economic Growth Slows To Crawl, GDP Increase At 1%,” Reuters, 8/26/11)

TODAY’S GDP REPORT CONFIRMS THAT THE ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING TO AVOID A DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION

Reuters: “The U.S. Economy Grew Much Slower Than Previously Thought In The Second Quarter As Business Inventories And Exports Were Less Robust …” (“Economic Growth Slows To Crawl, GDP Increase At 1%,” Reuters, 8/26/11)

• Reuters: “The United States Is On A Recession Watch …” “The United States is on a recession watch after a massive sell-off in the stock market knocked down consumer and business sentiment.” (“Economic Growth Slows To Crawl, GDP Increase At 1%,” Reuters, 8/26/11)

The Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. Government Lowered Its Estimate For Second-Quarter Growth Friday And Corporate Profits Moderated, Highlighting The Weakness Of The Recovery.” (Tom Barkley and Jeffrey Sparshott, “Economic Growth Revised Downward,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/26/11)

THE CBO ISSUED A TROUBLING REPORT THIS WEEK WHICH “PAINTED A DREARY ECONOMIC PICTURE”

Politico: “The Congressional Budget Office Painted A Dreary Economic Picture Wednesday In A New Report That Warns Of ‘Profound Budgetary And Economic Challenges’ Ahead.” (Seung Min Kim, “CBO Warns Of ‘Profound’ Challenges,” Politico, 8/24/11)

• Congressional Budget Office: “[T]he Pace Of The Recovery Has Been Slow, And The Economy Remains In A Severe Slump.” (“The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/24/11)
  
• CBO: “The Slowing In Growth In U.S. Output During The First Half Of 2011 Might Portend The Onset Of Another Recession.” (“The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/24/11)

The CBO’s Estimates For Future Unemployment Are Higher Than January’s Due To “Weaker Economic Activity Expected For The Next Several Years.” “However, CBO’s projections of the unemployment rate for 2012 through 2016 are higher than they were in January because of the weaker economic activity expected for the next several years.” (“The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/24/11)

CBO Projects Unemployment Rate To Remain Above Eight Percent Until 2014. “The national unemployment rate – now at 9.1 percent – isn’t expected to drop below 8 percent until 2014, according to the report on the country’s budget and economic outlook.” (Seung Min Kim, “CBO Warns Of ‘Profound’ Challenges,” Politico, 8/24/11)

• Currently, The Unemployment Rate Has Remained Above Eight Percent For A Post-WWII Record 30 Straight Months. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 8/24/11)
• Obama’s Economic Advisors Predicted That The Stimulus Would Keep The Unemployment Rate Below 8 Percent With Stimulus. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,”  1/9/09)

Rates Of Long-Term Unemployment “Are Unprecedented In The Post-World War II Era” With 31 Percent Of Unemployed Workers Jobless For Over A Year,  “On average, 44 percent of workers who were unemployed in the first half of 2011 had been jobless for more than six months. Moreover, in mid-2011, 31 percent of unemployed workers had been jobless for at least a year. Those rates of long-term unemployment are unprecedented in the post–World War II era.” (“The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/24/11)

OBAMA CONTINUES TO SET THE PACE FOR RECORD FAILURES ON THE BUDGET AND THE ECONOMY

Obama Is Responsible For “The Most Rapid Increase In The Debt Under Any U.S. President.” “The debt was $10.626 trillion on the day Mr. Obama took office. The latest calculation from Treasury shows the debt has now hit $14.639 trillion. It’s the most rapid increase in the debt under any U.S. president.” (Mark Knoller, “National Debt Has Increased $4 Trillion Under Obama,” CBS News, 8/22/11)

“Unless The Economy Turns Around In The Next 18 Months, Obama Is On Track To Have The Worst Jobs Record Of Any President In The Modern Era. That Would Be An Accurate Statement.” (Glenn Kessler, “Rick Perry’s Claim That Obama Has ‘Killed More Jobs’ Than Any Other President,” The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker,” 8/22/11)

The Job Market For Young Americans Is “Downright Dismal.” “The U.S. job market sure has been rough, but for young Americans this summer it was downright dismal. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Wednesday said 745,000 more job seekers between 16 and 24 years old were unemployed from April to July. That compares with an increase of 571,000 among the same age group last summer.” (Ben Rooney, “Another Summer Chill For Youth Employment,” CNN Money, 8/24/11)

• “Some 48.8% Of Young People Held Jobs In July, The Lowest Rate For That Month Based On Data Going Back To 1948, The Labor Department Said Wednesday.” (Sara Murray, “With Jobs Elusive, Young Workers Quit Looking,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics”,  8/24/11)

“Some Analysts Are Now Predicting Waves Of Foreclosures And A Continuing Slide In Home Prices.” “Administration discussions about housing proposals have taken on added urgency this summer because the housing market is continuing to deteriorate. On Wednesday, the government said that prices of homes with government-backed mortgages fell 5.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the biggest decline since 2009. More than one in five homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth. Some analysts are now predicting waves of foreclosures and a continuing slide in home prices.” (Shaila Dewan and Louise Story, “U.S. May Back Refinance Plan For Mortgages,” The New York Times, 8/24/11)