The U.S. Commerce Department released the third quarter economic growth numbers: "Real gross domestic product— the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States— increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011 (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter) according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 1.3 percent." So, is this good news? more ›

The U.S. Commerce Department said that the U.S. economy grew 3.5% during the third quarter. Bloomberg News notes this is the 'first time in more than a year" the GDP has grown, "propelled by stimulus-driven gains in consumer spending and home building," but the NY Times reports, "Even if a recovery is technically in the offing, job seekers likely will not begin to feel the benefits for months to come." more ›

Bloomberg News reports, "The U.S. economy shrank the most since 1982 in the fourth quarter as consumer spending recorded the worst slide in the postwar era, a trajectory that’s likely to continue in coming months," according to the Commerce Department's latest report. Spending fell 3.8% in the last quarter, which is actually better than forecast; some think the number will be revised and apparently it would have fallen 5.1% if not for "unsold inventory" building up. Analysts tell CNBC that this first quarter of 2009 "will probably turn out to be the worst quarter for the recession," so brace yourselves. more ›

The Commerce Department reports that the U.S. economy shrank at a 0.5% annual pace between July and September, which is what they estimated. The bad news, per the AP:

The economy was shrinking in the summer and corporate profits were falling even before the financial crisis struck with full force. Analysts are forecasting that those small declines will be followed by much larger decreases this quarter as the longest recession in a quarter century gains intensity... more ›

The Commerce Department announced the gross domestic product shrank at a 0.5% rate between July and September. The AP reports, "That was weaker than the 0.3 percent rate of decline first estimated a month ago, and marked the worst showing since the economy contracted at a 1.4 percent pace in the third quarter of 2001, when the nation was suffering through its last recession." Americans cut their spending at a 3.7%, a higher rate than initially reported (and the highest rate since 1980) and the AP adds the data is "further evidence that the country is almost certainly in the throes of a painful recession." Almost certainly? Isn't the writing on the wall that we are in one? more ›

After the Federal Reserve cut the key interest rate to 1% yesterday, stock futures are pointing "sharply" higher; CNBC says, "investors around the world seemed cautiously reassured by the latest steps taken by authorities to calm the credit crisis." Tokyo's Nikkei went up almost 10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased almost 13%, and European markets are also up. The big news: GDP data, which shows, as Bloomberg News puts it, "The U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter by the most since the 2001 recession as the record two- decade expansion in consumer spending came to an end." A Detusche Bank economist says, "The fourth quarter is going to be much worse as the crescendo of financial disruption reached a high point this month. We're going to have a prolonged recession." more ›

Sure Mongolia is a sparsely populated nation with a GDP just over 25% of what Wall St. alone pays out in bonuses, but this is New York City; and you gotta pay what you owe. So said a U.S. District Court judge Friday, when he ruled that India, Mongolia, and the Phillipines owed New York City tens of millions of dollars in back taxes. more ›