You think that the Republicans have figured out that the tea party was a trojan horse yet?

Careful with your words, they'll think you're trying promote condoms and beastiality. Especially some Political Hacks that always wake up on the wrong side of the bed with a Horse in one hand and a Trojan in the other trying to figure out how much Spiked Poison TEA they drank the night before and ended up the way they did.

The Whackadoodles need to lighten up and take it all in stride. Those little model horses need attention too.

.

This is the best news we've heard in a long time. Let's hope for more.

Please, Bennie. Save the spin.

How many quarters since 2000 have had GDP growth over 3%? Only about 10. And 3 of those were at the beginning of the Obama Administration.

If you had bothered to read the article, a lot of the GDP growth came from building up inventories. That's not something businesses would have done if there was such a thing as "uncertainty".

Bennie.

Doom, gloom and the goal post move.

Anyting to preserve the delusional reality you were fed. Seriously, turn off whatever is feeding you, and start thinking for yourself.

If this administration is so "anti business" --- why are we seeing near record profits? If this administration is so "anti business" --- why has the DOW increases over 4500 points since this administration took office? If this administration is so "anti business" -- why has President Obama signed into law more business friendly tax cuts than any president in history? Sorry Bennie but your sound bite just doesn't match reality.

Bennie, would you rather it be negative?

The latest U.S. gross domestic product data show the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter, the Commerce Department said -- a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.

Xmas spending....

US economy ended 2011 at a healthy pace

I thought former Bush Budget Director Gov. Mitch Daniels who as one of the Architects of the Iraq War holocaust and Architect of the Bush Great Depression stated that *The-End-Of-The-World-is-at-Nigh* in his rebuttal to the 2012 State of the Union Address ?

We have had over TRILLION dollar deficits every year since Obama is in office and this is all we show for? this is sad and I am NOT saying the Republicans are better because they are just as bad and if not worse.

The Fed just announced that they will keep interest rates at zero until late 2014, this just tells me that things are getting worse and more people are going to hold off on any major investment decisions. Confidence has a lot do do with business growth and if our own Fed chairman is NOT confident that our economy is going to do better in the next 3-4 years than why should we. They should have increased interest rates, if they only do the opposite of what they are thinking we would not be in this mess.

As a business owner and married to a manufacturing exec, I can tell you that things are very tepid. Some niche markets are functioning well and that is the direction the US should take. The big guys pass up lots of markets because it either doesn't fit their business plan, or the profits too small to bother, etc. That is where the smaller business model has the advantage. They have more flexibility and can react better to changing business climates - sometimes if they haven't put all their eggs in one basket. Another battery company went bankrupt today that taxpayers financed with about 150 million dollars. The problem is the electric cars are not selling. So this was a case of being wildly optimistic and betting on one product.

The US has accumulated over 5 trillion in debt since this administration took over. Now with leaked papers from the WH, we learn they never understood the recession at all. That is why they planned the "summer of recovery" well in advance. I maintain this WH is still in major denial and still has no idea how to advance our economy. Partly that is because they ONLY listen to the big multi-nationals that are the ones giving Obama advice. I am fine with their perspective, but it is only once piece of the entire landscape. The Big guys have far bigger markets that they can tap to survive and so developing niche markets within the US isn't their priority.

What everybody should be arguing about is whether our current system of measuring GDP is really valuable or not. What is it really measuring? IMO, it may have made some sense once upon a time, but as true guidance how healthy a country is due to economic expansion it is very lacking.

This earnings reports season is definitely showing that 2012 will be slower. It may be true that many big corporations have plenty of cash sitting on the sidelines, but their topline is struggling. Again, it isn't everybody, but there doesn't seem to be a feeling of a foot on the gas pedal.

Positive GDP is better than negative GDP, but considering the size of the crash we had, the GDP numbers continue to be very disappointing. Considering we are artificially stimulating our economy with $1 Trillion+ deficits every year, I do not think we are getting a very good return on our investment.

Personally, I don't think the leadership in either party (including Obama) know anything about how to make an economy run. They are all great at scoring political points, but that seems to be about it. There are some good rank-n-file politicians in both parties, but non of them are in leadership positions. I'm not sure how we change this situation, but we need a more functional government - and I don't see that happening unless we throw out all of the current leaders.

Is my math fuzzy? 2.8% last quarter + 3 quarters of 1.8% growth = 1.7% for the whole year.

I believe those are annualized numbers (i.e.; the 4th quarter growth rate was 2.8% if it was maintained over 4 quarters).

Q1 was +0.4. Math problem solved by reading and not lying about the last three quarters.

Q1: 0.4

Q2: 1.3

Q3: 1.8

Q4: 2.8

Wow, a sluggish recovery and it only cost us trillions that we had to borrow from China. Way to go!

"Excluding inventories, the economy grew at a tepid 0.8 percent rate, a sharp step-down from the prior period's 3.2 percent pace."

So actual consumer spending growth was only 25% of the prior period, and this is presented as 'good news'?????????????????

An economist would look at these figures and be very concerned, but msnbc gives it a good 'spin', and most people buy it 'hook, line and sinker'.

A 75% drop in the growth rate is not good news - learn to look at the figures and ignore the 'spin' if you want the truth. Also, people dipping into savings to buy things is not sustainable.

We can look for very lean economic times for the near term future because;

1 – Banks are being required to raise their 'Capital Reserves' significantly, and they can only do this by either getting investors to buy banks stocks (good luck, since banks are very shaky now and subject to ever more stringent regulations) or by reducing the amount of loans that banks make. When bank lending gets ever more difficult and expensive, that will severely affect economic growth.

2 – The skyrocketing Debt in the United States will ultimately have to be reduced to avoid debt downgrades or much higher interest rates because of default fears. When some of the cheap money that the Fed has been pumping into the economy is reduced, it will also lead to a real drag on the economy and higher interest rates as well as severe 'Austerity' programs. The current level of 'printed money' that has been injected into the economy will have to be reduced to avoid massive inflation – “What goes UP must come DOWN”.

3 – Slow economic growth will result in an increase in the Unemployment Rate as more graduates enter the workforce, and that in turn will lead to more anger and frustration. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement is merely a symptom of the frustration of young people who have few opportunities, but they mistakenly blame it on Wall Street, when the reality is that it is the result of failed government policies. Obama's “Wealth Redistribution” policies have been a disaster, and are making people 'equally poor' instead of growing the economy. Anti-business policies have ALWAYS made the economy worse than it needed to be – just look at the example in Europe whenever the government tried to take over major segments of their economies. Invariably, they found that 'Nationalization' of industries stifled economic growth and led to waste and abuse, and they had to 'Privatize' them again to get their economies growing. Governments are simply not geared to run anything efficiently – Social policy always gets in the way of competitive efficiency. The grand 'Social Justice' policies of Obama have been an abysmal failure.

2.8% is a healthy annual pace?????...wow, the reelection spin effort from the media whores is even worse than I expected

None of that is true.

dante2308

Every single one is true, you liberals seem to have a problem with facts!

When one looks at only part of the equation, as in comparing 4th quarter growth to what? the worse quarters growth and say the economy GREW? Just a political twist put on statistics to make the situation sound better than it is.

dante2308

Ignoring this too? Not true? according to you liberals?

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter, the Commerce Department said -- a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months

=========================

Correct me if I'm wrong but the initial calculation for the July - September quarter showed a 3% growth. Check back in three months to see how far this initial estimate has dropped.

I think Santa Claus just came. Also the stocking of the shelves had to do with the lack of having any product in inventory.

well yeah, many people spent their last few bucks for god's sake on holiday wishes..this is Not the Last Supper, however, meals/ food are getting quite expensive these days..who knows, starvation & cannibalism maybe next......not too mention, a Lot of skinny people coming on the; Pier of Adios/ good bye !!

Folks, get ready for the rhetoric that will be put out in an election year. The dollar as the reserve currency is going the way of the Dodo bird! The petro dollar has been the main support for extending the role of the dollar being the reserve currency. Enclosed is an article that points out some very interesting revelations regarding the future decline in the use of the dollar. China and Russia, Japan and China and other large countries are exchanging their own currencies where the dollar was used previously.

Sovereigns Declare War on U.S. Dollar

FINANCIAL SENSE

BY CHRIS BLASI
01/24/2012

Profoundly significant news came out of the Middle East on Monday January 23, 2012. The headline via DEBKAfile* reads:

India to Pay Gold Instead of Dollars for Iranian Oil. Oil and Gold Markets Stunned

Within the body of the report were gleaned these crucial items:

1. 1. India has become the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to settle purchases in gold.
2. 2. China is expected to follow India’s move.
3. 3. Approximately 40% of Iran’s total oil exports are consumed by India and China.
4. 4. Settling oil transactions in gold enables Tehran to circumvent the EU’s upcoming freeze on Iran’s Central Bank assets and the oil embargo announced Monday January 23rd.
5. 5. Due to the magnitude of the transactions proposed, the price of gold is expected to rise and the Dollar’s value depressed on world markets.
6. 6. The EU currently accounts for approximately 20% of Iran’s oil exports.
7. 7. The transactions are to be facilitated via two Indian state owned banks and a Turkish state owned bank.
8. 8. Financial mechanisms have also been implemented between Iran and Russia for the settlement of oil purchases in currencies other than the US Dollar.

dante2308 "None of that is true."

Actually, ALL of what MtMike-571674 says is true (a), and can easily be verified using Google search.

I guess you might call that 'An Inconvenient Truth'.

(a) - I would question his figures on job losses though, since the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics say that the actual job losses since January 2009 (when Obama took office) to the end of December 2011 was actually 1,663,000 jobs, not the 1.1 million implied by him. Forget the 'millions of jobs created' in Obama's rhetoric - it is just not true. Here's a link to verify;

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth

MtMike-571674 - Where did you get these 'facts' from.. Faux News? The Republican Handbook of Lies? Please post something that actually backs up your facts. Oh and while your at it, please post all of Bush's "economic" factors as well. Then we can clearly compare that BUSH's Failure is huge contributor to the financial collaspe inherited by Obama

TO: tontosh-2444879 who wrote:

'We have had over TRILLION dollar deficits every year since Obama is in office..."

We had trillion dollar deficits BEFORE President Obama came to office as well, and until Republicans decide to start paying some bills around here, we will continue to have trillion dollar deficits because THAT is the "Republican Plan."

Republicans don't believe in paying any of the bills they make, they just let the deficit continue to go up and up with all the interest that is added to the loans Republicans took to pay for their LIE Called the War in Iraq.

Obama / Biden 2012

People nothing is better than hard cold evidence in black and white. Europe who implemented austerity measures (same proposals as the GOP to address the recession combined at the end of the year had an average anemic GDP growth of .6 and unemployment of 16%

Were it not for Obamacare, we would be had quarterly expansion up-words of 3-5% for the past year & 1/2. Until that big hot steaming pile is repealed, we will never see sustainable recovery. The other drain on the economy is lack of a coherent energy policy based on stable supplies of domestic and foreign oil. Green Energy, a worthwhile thing to develop, is 10-20 years away before it is plentiful or affordable. The current dope in the White House thinks we need government to succeed, yes we need government.... to get the hell out of the way!

Great News! I continue to pray for our Country and our Potus. "God Bless America" shouldn't be something you say just to politically posture as a good Republican, it should actually be something you "want" to happen and believe will happen, yes even now. God Bless America! God Bless Mr. Obama!

Keep up the good work, America!

For those of you saddened by the continuing American economic recovery, how do you guys even look at yourselves in the mirror in the morning?

ItsAboutTime-3704531 "MtMike-571674 - Where did you get these 'facts' from.. Faux News? The Republican Handbook of Lies? Please post something that actually backs up your facts. Oh and while your at it, please post all of Bush's "economic" factors as well."

If you want some 'FACTS', with sources, try this;

Who's responsible for the Budget Deficits and the Debt?

While it's tempting to blame the President for Budget Deficits, it's actually the responsibility of Congress to pass a spending budget, which establishes the amount of the Deficit each year and any required borrowings on the Debt. So what does the record show, based on who controlled Congress over the last 30 years;

DEFICITS ($7.304 Trillion)

Total Deficits when Democrats controlled Congress (12 years) = $5.022 Trillion.
Total Deficits when Republicans controlled Congress (10 years) = $1.219 Trillion.
Total Deficits when Congress was split (8 years) = $1.063 Trillion.

NEW DEBT ($12.654Trillion = 93.3% of all the Debt in our History) (a)

Total New Debt when Democrats controlled Congress (12 years) = $7.623 Trillion.
Total New Debt when Republicans controlled Congress (10 years) = $3.260 Trillion.
Total New Debt when Congress was split (8 years) = $1.771 Trillion.

Spin it all you want, but these are the FACTS

(a) – Contrary to popular belief, the National Debt increases far more than the Deficits for each year, mainly because of the way that the government treats 'borrowings' from 'Trust Funds'.

Sources - Democrats controlled Congress from 1987 – 1994, and from 2007 – 2010. Republicans controlled Congress from 1995 – 2000, and from 2003 – 2006. There was a split Congress from 1980 – 1986 and for 2001 & 2002. The government site to verify National Debt increases is;

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt.htm

The government site to verify the Deficits for each year is;

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals See Table 1.3

I'll let the facts speak for themselves as to which Party is more fiscally responsible.

ItsAboutTime-3704531

More FACTS - with sources - Try to prove me wrong.

So which Party seems to do the best job when in total control?

When the Presidency and Congress is split between the Parties, one Party can block the efforts of the other (and share the credit/blame), so let's look at how well Democrats and Republicans did over the last 30 years (through 2010) when they controlled everything (Congress and the Presidency) – This happened over a total of 8 years, 4 years for Clinton/Obama and 4 years for Bush 2. In all of the other years, no one Party controlled both the Presidency and both houses of Congress.

In the 4 years under Clinton/Obama, we had;

Federal Spending averaged $2.461 Trillion per year.

Deficits averaged $791 Billion per year.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by $849 Billion.

The National Debt increased by $4.184 Trillion.

The average Unemployment Rate was 7.90%.

Total average employment DECREASED by 1,730,000 net jobs.

In the 4 years under Bush 2, we had;

Federal Spending averaged $2.082 Trillion per year, $380 Billion per year less.

Deficits averaged $205 Billion per year, $586 Billion per year less.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by $1.865 Trillion, $1,016 Billion more growth.

The National Debt increased by $1.726 Trillion, $2,468 Billion less increase in Debt.

The average Unemployment Rate was 5.55%, 2.35% less than under Democrats.

Total average employment Increased by 2,361,000 net jobs, 4,091,000 more jobs created (1.02 Million more jobs/yr.)

Gee, I wonder which Party seems to do a better job when in total control?

Government Sources to verify data;

Spending, Deficits - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals Table 1.3

National Debt - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals Table 7.1

GDP - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals Table 10.1

Employment - http:www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat.pdf See Employed – Total for each year.

Roy, how about we come pare the Bush Administration with the Clinton Administration. How about then we compare the last year of the Bush administration with 2011.

MtMike,

I said it in a previous vine and I will say it again, albeit abridged. Almost all of those facts you present are inflated by the recession. People cannot find work because they do not have the skills to get good paying jobs that can support their families and so are forced into welfare. Their banks, if they own their homes, will refuse them their right to short sell their house and then force them into foreclosure (has happened to three of my neighbors).

Gas prices have nothing to do with Obama's policies. American oil does not stay in America, most of it gets exported.

College debt has increase over the past three decades, it has nothing to do with presidential policies of any presidents over that time.

Personal debt has increased because we have a debt based economy. We urge people to buy on credit instead of debit. I have a credit card but I almost never use it. People are addicted to their cards and need to be re-educated about proper fiscal responsibility that should have been taught to them by their parents.

Your unemployment numbers are not true. Unemployment, not including those no longer working for work, was over 9% when Obama took office.

Competitiveness is down because we have a very strong economy. Strong economies generate higher wages and so our workers are paid more money to do their jobs. That is not a really measurement of how strong our economy is (competitiveness). In order to compete we have to force people to live in corporation sponsored dorms like they do in China because working for a buck fifty will not even support a single person in a one room apartment.

home values were already over inflated, they are returning to their proper values. sorry if that means you lost money but that is the fact of life. You bought your house at an over inflated prince by your bank, blame them first for price gouging you.

Now you have a point about the federal debt. But Republicans also have skin in the game there. They out right refused to allow cuts to the Pentagon, which happened anyway, while Democrats refused to allow cuts or changes to medicare and social security. Republican's want to cut taxes so that cutting the Government is more plausible; if you take in less money your debt increases and then you have to cut something. Obama is at fault for extending the Bush Tax Cuts, they should have been left to die on the side of a dirt road in the middle of no-man's land.

Fact is until we fix our infrastructure and upgrade the power grid so that it is more efficient taxes have to stay at this rate or higher to pay for that work. We have to make changes to Medicare and SS to keep people from withdrawing more then they have put into the system and to keep fraudulent claims down to a minimum.

Unless you want to throw seniors, veterans, the disabled, and the poor under the bus you cannot gut SS and medicare/medicaid.

So in short, things caused by the recession:

Unemployment numbers, misery index, debt per person, food stamps, poverty

Things outside of the Governments control, for now:

Gas prices, College tuition costs, home values

Things the entire Gov, including Obama, are responsible for:

federal debt

Sharded fault between private sector and the Gov:

Health care costs

Things cause by our economy and therefore non-issues:

competitiveness

It really is so simple to understand. I me, as you call Liberal (though I am no such thing) can understand it surely yourself, I suspect and enlightened conservative, can understand this:

Economic growth = more jobs

more jobs = less poverty

less poverty = higher standard of living

higher standard of living = higher wages to meet that standard

higher wages = more spending

more spending = more profits for businesses

more profits for businesses (usually) = economic growth and expansion

rinse and repeat. This economic cycle is being proven by China right now. Wokers want higher wages, they are moving from the boondocks into the cities. Us companies that fled the US because of wages are now leaving China because they do not want to pay higher wages. They are coming back because wages are depressed from the recession. Once the economy is back to where it was in 2000 they will leave for some other country because wages will have increased to the point that they no longer want to pay Americans again and the cycle repeats.

The above is why we have a recession every 20 years or so. Can you read economic history and connect the dots if us weak minded "Liberals" are able to?

Everything is going great guns but paychecks. Just how long do you expect this to last? The longer we pretend to be in a recovery, the longer it will take to actually start.

When the power grid starts to drag from to little generation, each company supplies an extra amount of power based on their capacity. The economy needs to work the same way, with companies hiring as many extra employees as they can afford. The tax code could easily be modified to push companies with large profits to hire or lose the excess to taxes.

To all the questions and dissenters to my post above, simple facts, with a bottom line approach to where the US was when Obama started and where we are now, google them yourself, if you do not believe them.

One, can make the excuses for not liking the facts, but, those are the facts (and growing worse!). Facts, supported by the US Government, google them yourself and check it out!

When one compares a "quarter" of growth to a previous quarter and declares "growth", "rebounding", the believers are buying into political propaganda, as those "factual" figures are again adjusted (downward) later. Just watch!

Truth hurts?!

ROY WILSON-336103

Nice try in presenting facts in your posts above, but, in doing such, you simply run into a thinking that refuses to believe you or research the facts for themselves!

These types who do not believe you are followers, who need to be told what to do, who need a nanny government, because they can not think or work for themselves. These type of folks are employees, who are content to work for others, but want a standard of living which is no longer obtainable under the current system.

These type of folks are not leaders, but leaches, who want to live off the work of others and need others, to enable them to have jobs, and thus is life and what makes wars.

It is encouraging to see a few honest and well documented posts, but it is discouraging to see so many that haven't a clue and refuse to educate themselves. But, I am not at all surprised, because it was all predicted over the past six-thousand years in general and the past two-thousand in particular. Most people didn't believe it in the past, and most won't believe it now or in the future. I'm sure the German people couldn't fathom the fact that they would lose WWII, because if they had, Hitler would have been a non-entity, and yet he became a leader of many and led them down the wrong pathway, because they permitted themselves to be misled and indoctrinated with lies. As you all know, such occurrances have been well documented throughout history. Even though Judgement Day has been foretold, it appears irrelevant to many, because they refuse to believe it could actually occur. History records changes over many centuries, and since our lifetimes are usually less than a hundred years, it is difficult for many to even comprehend the totality of it. Evil will continue to flourish in the world, wars will continue to occur, economies will continue to rise and fall, and people will become less Godly. It is a sad epitaph for mankind, and the real irony is that it could be changed if people would simply tell the truth and do what is right. I recently read of how a 16 year old girl became an atheist, because God didn't heal her mother when she prayed, and she now has the supreme court ruling to remove a prayer written by a seventh grader, because the prayer mentions God. Apparently, that young lady was lacking in Faith, and today our society is no different, for people expect to be given everything they want or ask for, whenever they want it, even if they are undeserving. I can only assume that the young lady never "studied" the Bible, and if she read it at all, she certainly didn't understand it very well. Mankind has become so arrogant, that he believes his mere physical existence gives him dominion over all things and that nothing of any consequence exists outide this grain of sand we call Earth, and a spiritual realm or non-physical existance is simply beyond their understanding. Christ was sin free yet he was killed, simply because he told the TRUTH, and most people didn't want to hear it. They viewed him as a threat to their materialistic wealth, because he was considered a King, and they couldn't comprehend the fact that his Kingdom was Spiritual in nature and not worldly, so neither they nor their rulers had any need to fear the loss of their earthly possessions and societal status. Why would anyone expect anything different today. Many have lost their Faith, and without Faith, your works can accomplish nothing.

Geowil

The Recession ENDED June 2009.

You could look yourself. IJS.

Obama the Food Stamp President!!

I love how liberals whine about "political spin" on here then immediately follow it up with some political spin of their own.

I like how right-wing-wackos believe Bush never existed ... and for that matter neither did Clinton ...

That's why this 2012 GOP / Tea Bag Prez candidacy believes they're the second-coming-of-Reagan ... that is, that Reagan where zero-taxes for the wealthy worked until it didn't ...

TO: thetruthstands who wrote:

"Obama the Food Stamp President!!"

As opposed to Republicans, who would have let People starve rather than offer the needy a plate of food.

Obama / Biden 2012

Louis J wrote that because he is on Public Assistance and knows that his freebees come on time every month! And he prays for the day the "Dream Act" becomes reality.

LMBO... wow, and to think these comments could be any less interesting, along comes 3677895.

Don't forget that I'm a 12 year old smoking the mary jane in my mother's basement.

"Hey mom, when you get back from the Public Assistance office, could you please bring me some KOOL AID!!!!! Thanks!!!!"

SMH.

The headlines are pure spin. Aside from a business inventory build, GDP growth was only 0.8%, a lousy number. GDP growth for all of 2011 was only 1.7%, weak growth. That is what you get from Obamanomics.

Peter17,

Care to cite some nationally recognized sources? How about any reliable source. No? Can't! As a former manufacturer, I can assure you businesses do NOT build inventory because of slow sales. Inventory is just money "tied-up" in goods and not earning a penny! However, make me a believer in YOUR figures, cite some reference(s)!

Scrambolo: Will this suffice???? Taken from the WSJ. Peter17 is spot on.

Economists and others weigh in on the increase in U.S. gross domestic product.

– Muddling through is the best term that can be applied to the current economic environment, even though the risks of a downturn have been reduced. By the same token, the data shows that there is no real risk of an upside surprise either. Specifically, the 2.8% rise in real fourth quarter GDP was dominated by a $56 billion increase in business inventories leaving the rest of the economy to add only 0.85 to the quarter’s growth. The problem with the inventory build is that it is large auto related and the current build rate appears out of line with demand. Even the upward trend in corporate investment spending appears to be losing momentum despite strong corporate balance sheet and excess cash holdings –Steven Ricchiuto, Mizuho Securities

–This is less impressive than it looks; growth supported by $56 billion inventory rebound, contributing 1.9 percentage points. Final sales rose only 0.8%, the slowest since the first quarter, held down by a 12.5% plunge in defense spending. Private sector final sales rose a more respectable 2.2%. –Ian Shepherdson, High Frequency Economics

–While consumer spending remains relatively strong, with expenditures continuing to be funded by a deceleration in savings and credit, the positive momentum is unlikely to be sustained unless wage growth starts keeping pace. –Millan L. B. Mulraine, TD Securities

–While the consumer clearly had a more disappointing fourth quarter than economists had allowed for. A less favorable report than people will have been looking for ultimately because the inventory run off is going to hit growth going forward. –David Semmens, Standard Chartered Bank

– Services consumer spending , which is 47% of GDP, was a significant drag this quarter — rising just 0.2%. Within that, housing and utilities spending was very weak — falling 3.1%, the lowest since 1989. We suspect that the December weather — one of the warmest on record — sent utility spending down sharply that month. We won’t have the monthly details of that until next week’s spending and income report, but the data give that appearance. Where lower utility output is a charge against GDP in the current quarter, the benefits of lower heating bills will accrue over a period of months.. –Jay Feldman, Credit Suisse

– The composition of growth in the fourth quarter isn’t exactly what one would have hoped for, given the build in inventories. But we have been talking for several years now about a slower growth, lower return environment. Today’s data only reinforces that position and that belief. –Dan Greenhaus, BTIG LLC

–The U.S. economy has grown 6.2% since bottoming out in the second quarter of 2009, and now stands 0.7% above it pre-crisis peak, achieved in the final quarter of 2007. However, it is likely that the fourth quarter may represent a peak in the rate of expansion, as growth looks set to cool during 2012. In particular, U.S. consumers remain concerned about debt, job security and the housing market, which will stifle domestic demand. At the same time, companies face an uncertain climate both at home and abroad, with the Euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis remaining a key cause of concern. That’s not to say that the U.S. is likely to slip into contraction either. Instead, the likelihood is for a period of steady and unspectacular growth. –Chris Williamson, Markit

–The softer-than-expected performance in the holiday quarter signals both that holiday buying season was not as ebullient as Black Friday weekend sales suggested and that the economy remains challenged by significant structural headwinds. While there are some improved prospects for job growth and some signs that housing might finally turn into a net contributor to economic growth in 2012, consumer confidence remains relatively low and household income growth lower still. Meanwhile, states and local municipalities continue to struggle with austerity. –Kathy Bostjancic, The Conference Board

– This growth is solid, but not spectacular, and is disappointing given the still-slow recovery from the Great Recession… Risks are weighted to the downside given the problems in Europe and the potential for unrest in the Middle East to drive oil prices higher. –Stuart Hoffman, PNC

–Exports also faced some pressure, though the impact on GDP was a relatively modest detraction of 0.1%. The primary factor here is the strength of the U.S. dollar, as capital inflows to the perceived safe haven currency made U.S. goods more expensive abroad and foreign goods cheaper in the U.S. While energy prices play a substantial quarter-to-quarter role, the dollar’s impact is more intermediate term in nature, and so long as this strength persists, we’d expect the import/export ratio to provide little hope for growth. –Guy LeBas, Janney Montgomery Scott

–Inflation measures in the quarter were well below the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Rightly or wrongly (and we think further Fed action will be as futile as that which recently preceded it), it must be acknowledged that the combination of a weak profile to the composition of growth and below-target inflation provides ammunition to those on the FOMC who would like to implement QE3 in the not too distant future.–Joshua Shapiro, MFR Inc.

– It is clearly premature to conclude that the economy is off and running. The outlook appeared to be improving at this time last year, only to be derailed by an unexpected surge in commodity prices and fallout from the Japanese earthquake. It would not take much to repeat the pattern this year, since business and consumer sentiment remains brittle from the effects of the Great Recession and events in Washington. With 2012 an election year, the political and policy uncertainty will only intensify. Some drags are already in place. Fiscal stimulus has been reduced and the recession in Europe is impacting trade and confidence. –Scott Hoyt, Moody’s Analytics

Peter, Obamanomics Got us from -3.5 to +3.0 in 2010. Teaparty defaultomics shaved us down to 1.7 unless you can point to some other obvious economy/market destroying activity this year? No raising the credit ceiling indeed.

When you fling almost a trillion dollars at the economy...your going to see a stimulative affect. Like giving a heroin addict a fix...they're good for a while, but just like the addict, the stimulus affect is abating and all we are left with is a real bummer.....another 3.7 trillion of debt after 3 years of Obamanomics

Obama has cut more from the budget than he added to it. The deficit is mostly due to the effect of the 2007-2009 recession mashing revenues, not to new programs.

dante

Care to cite some nationally recognized sources? How about any reliable source.

That supports you position?

Thanks scrambolo.

Dante: What has Obama cut? If more was cut from the budget than was added, then there would be no budget deficit for the year...now would there? But reality shows us that is not the case. The budget deficit for 2011 was similar to the deficit of 2010, approx 1.3 Trillion dollars. Since 2009 federal spending is up 21%, where as revenues are now back to a similar level that they were before the recession, yet we are still seeing record deficits. That's not even including the lions share of Obamacare, which doesn't fully kick in until 2014. You're in complete denial if you believe the deficit and hence debt...is the result of inadequate revenue.

CEO, you can't point to a program that Obama created that costs more than 1.5 trillion that he cut from the budget last year. The defense cuts alone are more than the stimulus spending. If Obama inherited a 1.4 trillion deficit, and now has a 1.1 trillion deficit then he has cut spending and programs that previous administrations approved. As for the Health Care Law, it decreases the deficit, not increases it. Read: fully paid for.

By your logic and math...you obviously have been recently educated in a public school. Obama is responsible for the 2010 budget and the 2011 budget, plain and simple, you can't pass this off on inheriting a Bush deficit. That BS is over... In fiscal year 2010, the federal government brought in revenues of 2.162 trillion dollar and spent 3.456 trillion, for a deficit of 1.294 trillion. In 2011, the revenue was 2.302 trillion with expenditures of 3.601 trillion, giving us a 1.299 trillion deficit. So for the two years in which Obama is fully responsible for all fiscal matters, he has increased the debt by almost 2.6 trillion dollars. And no degree of fuzzy math and spin that you attempt to employ will change those cold facts. Nice try.

By your logic and math...you obviously have been recently educated in a public school. Obama is responsible for the 2010 budget and the 2011 budget, plain and simple, you can't pass this off on inheriting a Bush deficit. That BS is over... In fiscal year 2010, the federal government brought in revenues of 2.162 trillion dollar and spent 3.456 trillion, for a deficit of 1.294 trillion. In 2011, the revenue was 2.302 trillion with expenditures of 3.601 trillion, giving us a 1.299 trillion deficit. So for the two years in which Obama is fully responsible for all fiscal matters, he has increased the debt by almost 2.6 trillion dollars. And no degree of fuzzy math and spin that you attempt to employ will change those cold facts. Nice try.

So you're home-schooled is it? That's why you can't conceive of the difference between new legislation attributed to Obama and the increasing cost of programs authorized in the last century. Ok, well where do we go from here? Well, lets try this. Please sum up the programs that Obama signed into law and their total cost, then subtract the cuts he's made and let me know what you find.

You sum it up.....you're the one making the claim, show some numbers. Start with trying to offset the $825 billion stimulus bill....where are the realized cuts?

You're making claims. I'll just do the big ones I guess to save you the trouble of Google.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

+787 billion (not sure why you went and made up 825, but ok)

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

-1.042 trillion through 2021

(cbo.gov/ftpdocs/120xx/doc12069/hr2.pdf)

Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010:

+857 billion

Budget Control Act of 2011:

-917 trillion in specified cuts through 2021.

Is there something else you would like to have Googled for you?

Some other big bills:

Small Business Jobs Act of 2010

+3.2 billion

Dodd-Frank and Consumer Protection Act:

-3.2 billion

You're all over the place. First of all, regarding the Stimulus number...nothing is made up. Check the CBO numbers, the final cost is expected to be around $825B if not higher. And you still haven't shown me a thing..... All the defict reduction numbers from Obamacare and the debt ceiling agreement are all fantasy. They're all projected numbers 10 years down the road, not real numbers., which are always ...always proven to be wrong, the CBO never gets things right. I wanted you to show me some actual realized cuts in the budget to offset Obama's obscene spending...but that can't happen, because there aren't any.

I'm sorry, your problem is that you reject information as it is given to you. Well since you are so much better at math than they are, tell me exactly how much The Adorable Care Act has cost us by year.

ceo,

RE: your post #5.3

Your points are well taken and I do not disagree that our economy is very fragile. However, I disagree strongly with the post of Peter, which you stated was "spot on". If you indeed are a CEO of a business then you know that inventory is a 'bad' word when used in the context of 'building-up' inventory'. Inventory should 'turn', the faster the better! If a business builds-up inventory it does so with the anticipation that the company will need more because of the GROWTH in its business, in particular, and the economy is improving generally. You know this is TRUE and FACTUAL. I mostly agree that the U.S. Economy and indeed the world economy are improving at a lackluster pace and may well slip back to a recessionary mode. The way I see our economy NOW, is that any improvement is certainly welcome in view of what we have experienced over the last 4 years. Your references generally say the SAME. Is it great? No, but ever so much better than our last 4 years. That being said, I do not see it improving dramatically, not only because of economic factors but because of the political climate in Washington D.C. Do you? One final point, until and unless the country seriously attacks the mountain of national debt, we will be in a very very vulnerable position economically speaking. Have a GREAT weekend!

slodon,

RE: your post #5.7

What figures or quotes did I claim for which you want citations or references? I only ASKED for citations and/or references for Peter's post #5.1. Tell me and I will oblige in your request. I try VERY HARD to stick with FACTS and critical reasoning. No ranting---usually, but not always, I admit!

ceo,

RE: your post #5.8

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for ANY president to cut from a budget IF, I repeat IF, he has not been presented with any budget from the Congress. The U.S. congress must FIRST initiate and agree on a budget BEFORE any president can sign, reject, cut, and/or modidy in any way, ANY BUDGET! In short Obama has NOT been given a budget to sign during his entire term in office, PERIOD! GET REAL!

ceo,

Your post #5.5 is NOT factual from an economics principle. You spend to stimulate in the ANTICIPATION that some of the risidule effects of the spending (stimulation) will help expand and "ignite" other sectors of the economy, so that the total economy expands, and it HAS EXPANDED, if only slowly and very modestly! Does it ALWAYS work? YES, it ALWAYS works to some degree depending on the state of the economy when the stimulus occurs. As you very well know our economy has been in the most severe resession (some say depression) since 1933! It will take time and will respond slowly, if other factors remain constant!

dante2308,

RE: your posts #5.14 and 5.15

Sorry to say you will get absolutely NO WHERE with ceo! He will deny all facts economic, as his great fear is NOT the economy, but the FACT that if our economy improves, even moderately and slowly, President Obama will be reelected. That alone greatly motivates his thought processes. Just look at the body of his posts and read between the lines!

You folks really are desperate, aren't you?

@Buck Naked Sr

Actually I think Obama will win (and I am no supporter of his) but not in the way you think. The reason he will win is that the Republicans have no clear electable candidate. Essentially, Obama will win by default.

Chuck, what do you mean? They had several candidates that represented their core beliefs and constituents from Rick to Michelle! And now Newt says Reagan over and over again. Isn't that exactly what Americans expect from Republicans? Their economic policies are exactly the same: cut taxes for the rich, take away protections from abuse, repeat. What exactly is newly unelectable about them? How are any of these guys different than Bush or McCain or anything?

they are not, but they are not Obama

We get more good economic news each week. Things are slowly getting better. We are digging our way out of the Bush depression. That's great news for REAL Americans and bad news for Republicans.

it because of the GOP obstructionists! They let the private sector breath. We can not keep passing laws expect the economy to be healthy and government to healthy. event the government out grow it sweet spot size and starts crush businesses. The government it shelf become infected by money. problem is now law on books is total mess. Now the question which law cost the private sector and us more than benefit that creates. in the past we solved the problems with more government. Now that at end. Government is now the problem.

2.8% is a "Healthy Pace"???

My God, have your expectations fallen that far?

Far as CPI, it's nothing but bull...

Have you been shopping at the grocery store lately?

Bought gas recently?

This administrations economic policies are a stranglehold.

It'll all begin to "change" in 2013. A shame we have to wait that long to get the community organizer out of the Oval Office.

Spanky, the problem is a bunch of people who spent the entire summer destroying everyone's confidence and our credit rating and tanking the markets on a completely invented issue. At the end of the day, it is just fact that the only thing the GOP House accomplished was convincing S&P that the House was crazy enough to self-default. That was literally the only thing preventing growth this year.

Mike, first of all 2.8 is healthy if you realize that the rest of the Western world from Japan to the UK is in a double dip recession. Second of all Mitt Romney's and Newt's experience as a man who collects interest or speaking does not even begin to compare to a man who has actually held a job since the 1980's.

As fun as it is to call Obama a community organizer, the truth is that he did that for a little right out of college. He's actually a lawyer and a legislator. Better to say "time to kick that Senator out of office and replace him with someone who does nothing of consequence for anyone or anything all day for years on end."

Then there is the problem of policy. Romney and Newt will fix the economy by lowering taxes on the rich and raising them on the poor? Oh good, exactly what was wrong with the economy. That will fix it.

@Charlie

We get more good economic news each week. Things are slowly getting better. We are digging our way out of the Bush depression. That's great news for REAL Americans and bad news for Republicans.

Please come and tell this to my unemployed neighbors (who are REAL Americans) who are losing their homes and barely have the income to scrape by. All through no fault of their own. I am sure they are delighted at this news (sarcasm) and the pretty picture you are painting of this Amrican tragedy.

Chuck, they are unemployed with income? I'd point out unemployment insurance, but I can't tell if they already have that or they are actually employed. What exactly have they done to find work?

This should be easy enough for a Liberal to understand...

Obama Economic Record

Inauguaration Day Today Change

Unemployed Americans: 12 Million to 13.1 Million - 1.1 Million worse
Unemployment Rate: 7.8% to 8.5% .7 % increase
Federal Debt: 10.6 Trillion to 15.1 Trillion and growing
Price of Gas: $ 1.85 Gal to $ 3.39 Gal = $1.54 more per Gallon
Misery Index: 7.8 to 11.9
Debt Per Person: $ 34,731 to $ 67,000 almost doubled
College Tuition: $ 6,591 to $ 8,244 = 25% Increase
Worker Health
Insurance Costs: $ 3,354 to $ 4,129 = 23 % Increase
Food Stamp Recipients: 32 Million to 46 Million = 45% Increase
Americans In Poverty: 39.8 Million to 46.2 Million = 6.4 Million Increase
Home Values: $165,700 to $147,800 =13% DECREASE
US Global
Competitiveness: 1st to 5th = Drop 4 Places

If only that were marginally true.

Good job? Holy crap...

Even the Market is having a reality check today. Finally the irrational buying spree is losing it's legs...

Corporate earnings are finally beginning to tank. Why do you think they've been up? Because of cost-cutting- not increased sales. They've cut the work force to the bare bones, squeezing more hours out of the remaining employees- Oh yes- for less $$ (wages are down). It could only last so long...

Didn't you read that housing tanked again in December-worse than before? That 2011 was the WORST year for housing on record?

That an annualized 2.8% GDP growth SUCKS? You think anything that bumps above rock bottom is great news?

Lets see...our debt has increased from $10BB to $15BB under this President...MORE than our entire GDP. You people need a reality check if you think things are rosy...

No one said things were rosy... but they are slowly starting to improve. It will take us MANY years to rebound from the lack of leadership and pathetic President Bush's economic policies. Perhaps if he actually cared as much about the United States as he did getting himself and his cronies even richer, we wouldn't have had to increase our national debt.

2.8% is a "Healthy Pace"???

Well --- it's 8.8% better than it was when Obama took office. Don't forget --- in January 2009 the economy was shrinking by more than 6%.

Please come and tell this to my unemployed neighbors

I didn't say the economy was in great shape -- I said it's getting better and we're slowly digging ourselves out of the Bush depressions. And Republicans in the House and Senate deserve NO credit for any of this because they have done everything they can to keep the economy down in their desperate attempt to defeat Preaident Obama no matter how much harm it will cause the rest of the nation.

Mike306915,

RE: your post #8.3

Mike if you knew what you were talking about you would KNOW that the CPI (Consumer Price Index) EXCLUDES food and energy. Just for the record!

We don't have to, you know and we know that ypou know, this is a very anemic showing.

Desperation is an ugly thing to have to watch.

Go cash your welfare check.

123 On your mark, ready, set, GO, the mere fact that you acknowledge the 'toothless' statement as true speaks volumes... the visual is priceless.

Exactly. Only an idiot would cheer 2.8% GDP growth as a "Healthy Pace". Either the writer knows nothing about economics and what a healthy GDP looks like, or it's yet another attempt by the biased liberal media to make this report seem better than it is. Gee, I wonder which it is... probably both....

Annualized GDP growth in:

Japan: -0.7

UK: 0.8

Spain: 0.8

France: 1.55

Germany: 2.5

EUROPE: 1.4

Oh gee, I guess 2.8 is awful. We should have kept Bush or McCain so he could tell us our fundamentals were strong right off the cliff while the media nodded.

dante

Didn't you read the article?? If so you must have glossed over this statement.

Inventories increased $56.0 billion, adding 1.94 percentage points to GDP growth. Excluding inventories, the economy grew at a tepid 0.8 percent rate, a sharp step-down from the prior period's 3.2 percent pace.

And 0.8 is just like Spain!! Obama is getting us to be just like the Europeans.

Sldon, Inventories are part of GDP. I don't believe in arbitrarily subtracting things from GDP. Why don't we redo the table by subtracting things arbitrarily from other countries?

dante

And the Inventories could be up because NO ONE is buying goods. No one buys goods the Inventory increases and Manufacturing goes DOWN. Manufacturing goes down so does the GDP.

Inventories have been at historical lows. The rebuilding of inventories is called stocking. It means they are optimistic about 2012 sales. I wonder what would lead you to say something as drastic as "NO ONE" is buying goods. Retail sales are up at record levels.

(census.gov/retail/marts/www/download/text/adv44x72.txt)

Retailers have been complaining that their inventories are too low for 6 months now if you check the ISM.

dante

What about this??

But much of the fourth quarter growth came from businesses restocking inventories, which swelled by $56.0 billion, adding nearly 2 percentage points to GDP growth. The so-called ”final sales” number, which tracks how much was actually sold, rose a meager 0.8 percent.

The pickup in GDP growth doesn't look half as good when you realize that most of it was due to inventory accumulation," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “Despite the apparent improvement in some of the incoming economic data, it still looks like ... another disappointing year."

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10251908-unsold-goods-weigh-on-future-economic-growth

It appears that this economist sees things differently then you do dante.

That economist? You have somehow lost place of the point I was making. We are doing better than a developed world racked with low to negative growth. Even the countries like Germany with supposedly strong economies and healthy balance sheets are trending lower than we are.

The world GDP growth rate is supposed to be under 3% in the coming year meaning that even if we sum up all the countries that are going from third world to developing, all the oil booms, all the bubble buildings in China, all the countries in Africa going from $2 a day to $3 a day, America loses no rank at all.

As for the year versus the quarter. Yes, now that we aren't in the throws of a debt ceiling circus, we're back up to 2.8%. God forbid Congress aid economic growth. The year was horrid, not "disappointing."

At what juncture did anyone assume that a GOP-led Congress was capable of creating a job? Did they go to school and figure out how not to act like Hoover in the last two years? Really?

UNEMPLOYMENT since It has been recorded.

Lets look at a score card of GOP Presidents and how many recessions were recorded to begin in their term:

Losers

Eisenhower: 2.9 to 6.6 (2 recessions)

Nixon: 3.4 to 5.1 (1 recession)

Ford. 5.1 to 7.5 (1 recession)

Bush I: 5.7 t0 7.3 (1 recession)

Bush II: 4.2 to 7.8 (2 recessions)

Winners

Reagan: 7.5 to 4.2 (1 recession) !!!! OH my goodness! Lets wait 4 more years and see Bush I get it back up again.

Democratic Presidents:

Winners

Kennedy: 6.6 to 5.7 (0 recessions)

LBJ: 5.7 to 3.4 (0 recessions)

Carter: 7.9 to 7.5 (1 recession)

Clinton: 7.3 to 4.2 (0 recessions)

Losers

N/A (0 recessions), we'll see in January, but eeking out -0.8% by the end of Obama's first, much more second term shouldn't be a problem if Congress isn't completely treasonous.

The weird thing is that the GOP always gets thrown out due to economic matters and the Democratic party seems to only lose when people get afraid of blacks or gays or health...

This isn't time to see if we can recreate another economic disaster. Maybe there is some functionality in the periodic self-flogging we do by voting for them, but I'd rather give the economy a bit more time to grow before we we try another recession.

And yes, a single minded focus on cutting jobs and spending is exactly what they are proposing with no measure to even reduce the deficit after their 600 billion a year tax cuts. Read: Newt or Romney tax plan.

For once M$NBS printed another story which tells the real deal.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10251908-unsold-goods-weigh-on-future-economic-growth

Inventories are glutted again. In business this is called "book to bill", meaning you want more orders than product you are shipping. When your ratio is too low, meaning too much inventory, budget cuts are imminent (ex layoffs). There was NO "recovery", from a true business standpoint, it was simply companies back-filling their inventories which were depleted when all purchasing stopped during the crash.

Don't be duped. Every time a positive report like this comes out, within a month they publish another story saying it was erroneous. "Whoops, we now re-calculated it is really 1%."

BS. More often that not, when these figures are revised, the actual numbers are better.

Maybe so. Neither of us have sources to quote, so we'll call it a draw.

OTOH, my line referencing the other article tells the real story. Inventories are glutted, that means more potential layoffs. My company has about 1k customers, and our products are used in EVERYTHING imaginable. My Co has always been a good gauge of the economic state. We have too much inventory now. Our latest message from the CEO is "get more bookings, or there will be budget cuts", which really means LAYOFFS. There is no recovery at this point, and will not be for while to come. I could care less who is in office, this is a situation of "it is what it is..."

Yep.

Expect the "reporting" to be even more inaccurate as election time approaches.

Anyone that is capable of independent thought sees the trend...

There is zero evidence that the BLS lies to us... Why do you people always do this?

Economic confidence is up in Gallup's measure, and so is spending.

Blame it on Obama all you want, America sees the situation differently.

Yeah Matt, especially those 14 million unemployed. I'm sure they're uncorking champagne and dancing in the streets right now.

"Most of the Q4 gain in GDP was from an increase in business inventories. Aside from that gain, the increase was only 0.8% - a very weak number."

Please quote your source.

A Reuters article posted on the Yahoo business site. I never trust the spin from MSNBC.

If you go back and look at how often recessions appear it is quite often. So the span is 2-5 years. We have been officially out of the recession since 2009. So that means we are heading for another and unfortunately have wasted a lot of time not fixing the issues that will drive this economy into the ditch again.

The dems refuse to consider balancing the budget. They refuse to acknowledge that our entitlement system is in need of major reform. The boomers are retiring quicker than anticipated and thus since 2009 SS fund is taking in less than it pays out. This was never expected when calculations were done regarding when SS would start tapping into the so-called int and principle. Equally distressing is that the bulk of seniors counted on their homes to be their retirement fund. With housing continuing to fall, many seniors will be needing assistance during their retirement years. Wells Fargo did a survey last year of members ranging in age from 50-59 asking them how much they had in their retirement funds. The number was between 10,000 and 30,000 approx. That poll was staggering but not surprising given how much debt consumers have today.

It is the debt folks spurred by too much loose credit. How does a nation dig out when they owe so much money and what money they have saved can't get a decent return? Where will the demand come from?

The fault lies with all of us that counted on assets always going up. The demand for products can't get revved up with so much debt still outstanding.

golfslef

Excluding inventories, the economy grew at a tepid 0.8 percent rate, a sharp step-down from the prior period's 3.2 percent pace.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10249993-us-economy-ended-2011-at-a-healthy-pace

Looks like you didn't read the article or failed reading comprehension.

If this were reported on FOX would you still call it crap?

Funny, I've been reading that clueless style of TeaBabble for years now, and here we still are, finally pulling ourselves back out of Bush's fetid cesspool...

"Bush" again?

When will you liberals stop blaming the last five years of crap on him? Two years of a Democratic controlled Congress (that writes/passes legislation- not the President) and three years of the Campaigner in Chief.

Seriously- WHEN does it belong to your beloved Barry? Ever?

Mike, the cesspool will always be Bush's. The recovery will always be Obama's. Why should Obama take credit for 2008? He'll sure as hell take credit for saving the auto's, stabilizing the banks, and 22 straight months of job growth after that cesspool of a depression left flopping on a dock the day he came to office.

Sorry teatards, dottoheads, and fox cultist --- as much as you hate it, the Bush depression is over and the economy is slowly improving.

Gee, I wonder what party devastated the economy this year by trying their darnest to cause a default? Mitch McConnell literally said that they would sabotage the economy in order to hurt Obama. It is so transparent it hurts.

Funny, the rightwing nuts think we are all going to fall for their political tactics, as obvious as they are...duh. The GOP/TP have been obstructing the economic recovery since the day President Obama became President. We all know it, we aren't going to just forget it, no matter how hard you try to continue to say "Its Obama's fault" we've seen what you (GOP/TP) have done, we know who you are and you will be kicked to the curb.... Obama 2012.

Something I love about you is that you have no idea what you are talking about. Real GDP corrects for inflation, That's why it's called real. It is also seasonally adjusted so it doesn't matter what time of the year it is. The population increases at a 1.9% annual rate. GM passed Toyota before the earthquake starting in mid-2010. Job growth exceeded the growth of the labor force thus the drop in the rate.

.

dante

What about the 315,000 people who LEFT the labor force in Nov. 2011. What about the 50,000 people who LEFT the labor force in Dec. 2011? Don't you think those people had an influence on the Unemployment rate?

sldon, what about them? U6 is going down meaning the percent of people who are unemployed, discouraged, and working part time for economic reasons is decreasing. The employment to population ratio is also increasing.

Besides the obvious aging of the population and the retirement of the boomers I'm not exactly sure what your point is? At the end of the day, 1,570,000 jobs were created since December 2010. 274,000 MORE people were in the workforce as compared to December 2010. Your complaint is? Inability to understand statistics? Try a school.

Unspecified "expectations" mean little. I expected 2.7 due to the exports.