Some media are reporting a ‘Good’ Economy…..
That maybe the countries Gross Domestic Product story….
But it is NOT for us, the consumer’s, spending….
Prices ARE climbing….
Tariff taxes will going up, if not already…
And Trump is still looking to cut services that will make consumer spend eeven more….
The American Economy is NOT OK …..
Economic growth softened in the first half of the year, as tariffs and uncertainty upended business plans and scrambled consumers’ spending decisions.
Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, increased at a 3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That topped forecasters’ expectations and appeared to represent a strong rebound from the first three months of the year, when output contracted at a 0.5 percent rate.
But both those figures were skewed — in opposite directions — by big swings in trade and inventories caused by President Trump’s ever-shifting tariff policies. Taken as a whole, the data from the first six months of the year tell a more consistent story of anemic, though positive, economic growth.
Many forecasters expect a further deterioration in the months ahead, as tariffs work their way through supply chains, federal job cuts filter through the economy and stricter immigration policies take a toll on industries that rely on foreign-born workers.
“We don’t think we’ve seen the full effects from tariffs yet,” said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley. “I don’t see how we power through without a soft patch at least for a little while.”…
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Consumer spending, the bedrock of the U.S. economy, grew at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter. That was an acceleration from the 0.5 percent rate in the beginning of the year, but well below the 2.8 percent growth in spending in 2024. That could be a sign that consumers, whose resilience has helped keep growth on track during a tumultuous economic period, are finally showing signs of strain.
But after-tax incomes, adjusted for inflation, grew at a 3 percent rate, suggesting the strong job market could allow consumers to keep spending.
Other parts of the report showed signs of weakness, however. Business investment slumped in the second quarter after surging in the first, and the housing sector contracted under the weight of high interest rates.
The big swing in the overall G.D.P. figures between the first and second quarters paint a misleading picture of the economy. That is because of the unusual patterns in trade and spending caused by Mr. Trump’s tariff policies, and by the confusing way that economic activity is measured….