Tag Archives: GDP

Mortgage origination is doing even better in 2012 than the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) had anticipated.

Consumer spending rose $57.2 billion - 0.5 percent - in August, but personal income improved just $15 billion, 0.1 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.3 percent during the second quarter of the year, falling below market expectations.

Despite a $355 billion increase in the value of household real estate, household net worth fell $322 billion in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds:http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/z1.pdf report.

Economic growth isn't looking good for the rest of the year, according to Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. According to the GSE's most recent Economic Outlook report, downside risks such as the European debt crisis, the fast-approaching fiscal cliff, and the recent slowdown in hiring have created a drag on the second quarter's modest economic growth. Fannie Mae is setting growth expectations to 1.8 percent, a slight increase from Q2, but under Q1's projected 2.0 percent pace.

The U.S. economy grew in the second quarter at 1.7 percent, slightly faster than the originally estimated 1.5 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday. At the same time BEA reported second quarter grew at a meager 0.5 percent from the first quarter, but an improvement from the 2.7 percent drop in corporate profits registered in the first quarter. Profits in the financial sector though fell more than 9 percent. The upward revision in second quarter GDP growth was in line with the forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The U.S. economy grew at a disappointing 1.5 percent in the second quarter, the Labor Department reported Friday, down from an upwardly revised 2.0 percent growth rate in the first quarter but better than expected. Economists had forecast GDP to grow at 1.2 percent in the second quarter. A drop in government spending ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô primarily at the state and local level ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô held growth down. The growth pace is below the 3.0 percent level need to add jobs to make a dent in the nation's unemployment rate. Between 2008 and 2011, real GDP increased at an average annual rate of 0.3 percent, Labor said.

Speaking before Congress Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted a slow and fragile economic recovery in the United States, one that is vulnerable to financial markets abroad as well as fiscal policy at home. Amid the uncertain economic atmosphere, the Federal Reserve will continue its maturity extension program through the end of this year. The program calls for the Fed to purchase short-term Treasury securities and long-term Treasury securities of equal amounts. Bernanke said that the housing market reveals modest recovery.

Consumer spending fell $4.7 billion, less than 1 percent in May, reversing the 0.15 percent increase in April, the Labor Department reported Friday. Personal income meanwhile grew $25.4 billion or 0.18 percent, down from April's 0.22 percent growth. The numbers suggest GDP growth for the second quarter which ends Saturday could be slip from the first quarter's weak 1.9 percent growth rate. In dollars, income growth in May was less than the $29.4 billion in April, while spending fell from a gain of $16.2 billion in April.

The US economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first quarter, the Labor Department said Thursday. The BEA report was consistent with market expectations but emphasized a moribund economy. The economy had expanded at a 3.0 percent pace in the fourth quarter of 2011. In economic measurement terms, these data are ancient economic history, since the second quarter ends Saturday. The advance first quarter GDP report will be released on July 27. The data released so far for April, May, and early June suggest second-quarter 2012 economic activity may have grown even less rapidly.