27 May 2005 Eyes Still on the Fed
Posted at 16:06h
in The Friday Brief
The economy is neither too hot nor too cold, according to the government’s announced revision yesterday of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Continued steady consumer spending and a narrowing trade deficit prompted the government to raise its estimate of the economy’s first quarter growth from 3.1% to 3.5%, which exceeds the ten-year average of 3.3%. Many had feared that higher energy prices would dampen consumer spending more dramatically than it has so far. Offsetting the higher costs have been wages and salaries. They expanded considerably more in the final quarter of 2004 than the government first reported.