US News reports a story that will have far more impact on the 2012 election than a candidate's migraines:
GDP growth for the second quarter was lower than expected, with the nation's output increasing at an annual rate of 1.3 percent from April through June, according to numbers released this morning by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Though a marked increase from the first quarter's 0.4 percent growth, the figure shows that the nation's economic recovery remains tepid. According to Ben Herzon, senior economist at macroeconomic consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, a survey of economists his firm conducted on July 22 had predicted growth of 2.1 percent in the second quarter. Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody's Analytics, told U.S. News that he had predicted 1.8 percent.[Read about the growing political will for corporate tax reform.]
Gallup reports that people are pretty clear on the state of the economy:
Seventy-three percent of Americans in Gallup Daily tracking over the July 22-24 weekend say the U.S. economy is getting worse. This is up 11 percentage points from the three days ending July 6, and the worst level for this measure since the three days ending March 12, 2009.
