LAST WEEK

News & Commentary Weekly Highlights:

• Wall Street Journal: U.S. GDP Grew a Disappointing 1.2% in Second Quarter (Friday)
• Cato: On the Italian and Eurozone Doomsday Scenario (Thursday)
• National Review: Fed Leaves Door Open to Move as Soon as September (Wednesday)
• Investor’s Business Daily: Why Are 'Progressives' Fighting Against Uber and Airbnb? (Wednesday)
• National Review: The Nordic Democratic-Socialist Myth (Tuesday)

 

Top Economic Indicator Highlights:

Gross Domestic Product (Advance Estimate) (Q2 2016)

• Real GDP: Q2: 1.2% (annual rate); Q1: 0.8%; recovery average: 2.1%; average of other post-1960 recoveries: 3.7%
• Noteworthy: GDP growth came in far below the consensus expected 2.5% growth. The slight real GDP increase was driven by household consumption and net exports. These increases were partially offset by lower investment and state and local government spending.

 

JEC Releases:

• June State Employment Data (Monday)
• The Secret Economic Life of Pets (Tuesday)
• Five Things to Know about CBO’s 2016 Long-Term Budget Outlook (Thursday)
• Sens. Thune, Coats Agree Americans Deserve Better Than Obama Economy (Friday)
• If You Thought Insolvency Warnings from the Social Security and Medicare Trustees Were Dire, Check out CBO’s New Projections (Friday)

 

THIS WEEK

 

Upcoming Economic Reports & Releases:

Major Indicators

• Construction Spending (10:00am, Mon)
• ISM Manufacturing (10:00am, Mon)
• PCE Deflator (08:30am, Tue)
• Personal Income (08:30am, Tue)
• Motor Vehicle Sales (04:00pm, Tue)
• ADP National Employment Report (8:15am, Wed)
• ISM Non-Manufacturing (10:00am, Wed)
• Jobless Claims (8:30am, Thu)
• Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, & Orders (10:00am, Thu)
• Employment Situation (8:30am, Fri)
• Trade Balance (8:30am, Fri)
• Consumer Credit (3:00pm, Fri)

 

Chart of the Week

 

This chart shows the average real GDP growth rate for the wealthiest nations* from 2010 to 2015. While the United States (2.1%) is not as far behind as Japan and most of Europe, it lagged behind comparable nations such as Canada (2.3%), New Zealand (2.5%), Australia (2.5%), Sweden (2.7%), and Israel (3.6%).

 

*The “wealthiest nations” are those with a 2015 natural logarithmic real GDP per capita at least one standard deviation above the average natural logarithm of real GDP per capita for the 163 nations with data available for 2015.