Thursday, October 30, 2008

Negative Growth in Third Quarter, Commerce Dept. Reports

The Commerce Department has released its preliminary estimate of U.S. third quarter gross domestic product, showing a decline to -0.3 percent. If the fourth quarter follows suit, we will be safe in saying we officially have entered a recession.

Consumer spending fell by -3.1 percent. Business investment fell by -1.0 percent, final sales were down by -0.8 percent. Disposable income came in at -8.7 percent.

The odd thing is that despite the generally-tough tone since perhaps the summer of 2007, growth has been positive through the second quarter of 2008.

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