Economic Contraction Again Confirmed For Second Quarter, Solidifying Technical Recession | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ben Zeisloft.

    Real gross domestic product (GDP) is confirmed to have shrunk at an annualized rate of 0.6% in the second quarter of 2022, according to a Thursday report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    New data from the agency confirms the figure, which had already been revised to 0.6% from an earlier estimate of 0.9%. Output contracted at a 1.6% annualized rate in the first quarter.

    "The decrease in real GDP reflected decreases in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending, that were partly offset by increases in exports and consumer spending," the Bureau of Economic Analysis explained. "Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased."

    The two consecutive quarters of negative growth places the United States into technical recession territory. Although the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit entity generally recognized as the country's business cycle scorekeeper, defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months," the entity also examines more granular data in declaring periods of recession.

    The Biden administration has leaned upon the lack of an official declaration while spurning criticism about the outcomes of its economic agenda.

    "While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle," the White House said in a blog post. "Instead, both official determinations of recessions and economists' assessment of economic activity are based on a holistic look at the data - including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes."

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has likewise denied that the economy is "in recession." Instead, she claimed two months ago that the nation is in a "period of transition in which growth is slowing," which is "necessary and appropriate" following recovery from the lockdown-induced recession.

    Beyond the first half of the year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta predicts that growth in the third quarter will occur at an annualized rate of 0.3%. As landmark reports regarding employment, inflation, private inventories, manufacturing output, and the housing market have been published over the past two months, analysts in Atlanta have repeatedly downgraded their growth forecast for the third quarter.

    The United States has witnessed a lackluster economic recovery over the past two years under several disruptions - including labor shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine - all of which have contributed to worsening inflationary pressures.

    The phenomena have eroded Americans' trust in the Democratic Party to handle economic policy, according to a recent poll from ABC News and The Washington Post. The economy and inflation are key issues among voters, with 84% considering the former to be a top factor on their minds. The Republicans lead the Democrats by a 16% margin and a 19% margin with respect to trust in handling the economy and inflation, respectively.

    Price levels between August 2021 and August 2022 rose 8.3%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking a slight moderation from an 8.5% year-over-year increase in July and a 9.1% year-over-year increase in June. As core inflation continues to climb, the Federal Reserve responded last week by increasing the target federal funds rate by 0.75% - a move that triggered a stock market selloff and sent the Dow Jones more than 1,500 points lower than the level seen on the day of Biden's inauguration.

poll#166

With the Midterm Elections less than one week away: What do you consider the top issues that you will be voting on to be corrected by your better representation?

  Education

  Crime

  Big Government getting Bigger

  Biden /Democrat controlled Spike in Energy Cost

  Inflation created by Legislation of Majority in Power

  Gender Reassignment

  Corrupted Bureaucratic /Service (DOJ, FBI, etc.) Institutions

  Abortion

  Discredited Legacy Media

  Ending the Corruption of Dishonest Politicians

  Corruptive Influence of Social Media

  Wide Open Southern Border

439 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

poll#154

Inarguably, the policies of the Democrats in congress and Joe Biden as the Executive is plunging the United States into a recession, if we are not already there; a recession that was completely avoidable. Will abrupt changes in policies occur in time?

  Yes, the Democrats have a bold plan, yet to be revealed, to save us.

  No, there will have to be a complete undoing of the damage done by these Democrats.

  I can't do simple math, so how am I to understand the concept of basic economics.

1,216 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

poll#162

In what may be the most divisive period in modern American History, even more divisive than the turbulent sixties due to today's lack of patriotism, consider what are the major catalysts causing so much of this calamity of conflict, and vote: What most instigates the division of America, on this day September 20, 2022?

  Racism within our society

  Sex realignment to the detriment of our society.

  Biden /Harris Wide Open Southern Border Policy for the Demographic Upheaval of OUR Constitutional Republic

  Rampant Crime in Democratic controlled cities, and the possible contagion elsewhere

  Covid Pandemic, and its mishandling at the political, and bureaucratic levels.

  The unresolved questions /allegation regarding the flawed 2020 General Election

  January 6th Riot or "Armed Insurrection", depending upon patriotic perspective

  Joe Biden as Divisive Leader; Ineffective and Corrupt Executive

  Failed Education Industry, from an overall perspective, regarding all levels of education.

  Propagandistic Media in complete conflict with the First Amendment's guarantee of Freedom of Speech, and the awesome responsibility of a Free Press..

  "Orangeman Bad!"

  Bureaucracy rushing to a behemoth size, its unjustified expense, and far too often overreach.

  The Weaponized Deep State for political purposes

  A secular ambivalence to all that is real.

  Record number of overdose deaths from opioids and now Fentanyl

  Biden Administration's disastrous Foreign Policy

  Bidenflation /supply chain failure inevitably evolving into stagflation and recession.

  "Ultra MAGA Extremists" freely speaking louder AND LOUDER!

927 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?