Economy shows some verve

The administration needs to start blowing their own horn a bit concerning this terrific economy. This "stealth boom" has been and is going to continue to go unnoticed if they don't start publicizing their achievements. It's a given being a Republican administration that the "Entrenched Media" won't report on it.

NEW YORK – The economy now seems poised for healthy growth for the rest of the year.
Propelling it is a mix of business spending on computers and software, orders from abroad on everything from combines to aircraft, and consumers undaunted by the cost of energy.

The continued economic recovery - now in its 45th month - should allow the Federal Reserve to continue its program of slowly raising interest rates. Solid economic growth, combined with slowing productivity, also means that the job machine will continue to keep the unemployment numbers relatively low.

The economic growth is good for the stock market: The Standard & Poor's average, for example, is close to a four year high. "America just continues business as usual," says Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa.

The latest evidence of this came on Friday when the Commerce Department released its first look at the gross domestic product in the April to June quarter. According to the government, the GDP grew at a 3.4 percent annual rate, following a 3.8 percent rate in the first quarter. If business had not reduced inventories, the GDP, a measure of the value of all goods and services, would have grown at nearly a 6 percent rate - the fastest pace in two years.

Last quarter, the big change in the economy was the trade deficit. Exports increased while imports dropped, resulting in the largest dip in the trade deficit since 1947, when the government started tracking quarterly GDP. "We saw a pickup in capital spending, and it would appear more is being purchased domestically than imported," says David Huether, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington. "The likelihood of this continuing is not high. It's an anomaly." (maybe.....maybe not)

Update: And if that wasn't enough, more good news here