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The economy was great in Q2

Published on 21 Comments on The economy was great in Q2

We now have all the important economic indicators for the second quarter of 2024:

  • Real GDP grew 2.8%
  • The unemployment rate was 4.0%.
  • Inflation was down to 2.8%.
  • Real wages were up 1%.
  • Real disposable personal income was up 1.3%.
  • Real consumption was up 1.5%.

What's not to like?

21 thoughts on “The economy was great in Q2”

  3. jte21

    I dunno. Some guys on the radio were saying we're in an economic crisis worse than the Great Depression. In fact, everyone in America is actually unemployed and eating catfood. It may seem like you're at the office eating the leftover sub you brought for lunch, but you're actually in a homeless shelter in Waukeegan eating catfood. Like in the Matrix or something.

  5. lower-case

    nasdaq is up about 75% since jan 2023

    bartiromo and the other well-paid fox/cnbc shills would be declaring trump more popular than jesus if he was in the whitehouse (as would trump himself, repeatedly... with vigor)

    1. OldFlyer

      Agree.

      In my “exchanges”, too many conservative’s idea of “Challenge Everything” means Tweeto said it, Fox verified it, so it must be true, otoh if they conveniently did not say it, it can’t be true. Hard to argue even with facts and stats. iirc W. McAdoo said you can’t argue with an ignorant man, and GOP certainly perfected that.

      Now I understand why their educational benefits are so stingy.

  6. jeffreycmcmahon

    There are plenty of things not to like, but by comparative standards we're in good shape. This has been today's That Thing You're Worried About (the U.S. economy)? It's Not a Big Deal to Kevin Drum, And Today He's Correct.

    1. OldFlyer

      Better- maybe a matter of perspective

      The economy can also do well under the GOP too, so long as you don’t mind throwing the (unemployed) under the bus. Like a family of five barely making ends meet, the youngest Johnny, has special education and medical needs that the old “Tax & Spend” economy use to help with. The new GOP financial’s “tough love” pronounces “No government handouts, Johnny needs to stand on his own two feet and pull himself up by his own bootstraps, just like everyone else in the family”. So they cut out his med and ed care and by golly the GOP was right, expenses are down and the family budget looks much better now.

      Short Version- We’ve got ours- Ladder - Up

  8. kahner

    I remain pessimistic, as is my nature, but the economic fundamentals seem like they could help harris achieve a major win for herself and the house and senate dems. let's pray she runs a strong campaign and trump continues to be an old, crazy idiot babbling nonsense at every turn.

  9. cld

    Them folks is disrespectin' our love for Mountain Dew, which is all you ever hear about them doin', and which, and people don't know this, shows you how much they appreciate, Mountain Dew can make a really fine marinade for somethin'. Like that ground hog, or whatever it was, JD runned over last week in the Chevy. So, who needs McDonalds and all that, anyway? Just a lot of junk.

    1. bbleh

      He is SUCH a fauxbilly. Coming from WV I can TESTIFY that this Mountain Dew thing is -- like the rest of his persona -- nothing more than a media facade, probably riffing off "mountain." (And yes, we know words like "persona" and "facade." Even know what a ç is.)

  10. OldFlyer

    I fear many in the working class don't care about DJ or GDP. They care about the price of groceries and many services- still way up since covid, and I fear that's all Fox will talk about.

    1. Gilgit

      If Trump was President all those same working class people would be saying that inflation was over and Trump saved them. And the press would echo that statement.

      Maybe it is time for Democrats to talk more about how they won the war against inflation and the economy is good. They could mention the Chaos Trump left the economy in and that Democrats fixed it. Of course they could talk how about there are still many fights to win for working class families, etc. They might even bring up all the monopolies, including food companies, cheating American workers and how Biden/Harris have been fighting them. It took 40 years to build those monopolies and it will be a long fight to tear them down, etc.

      Fight people! We can win if we fight! Not go around groveling for the working class to forgive us for things we weren't responsible for. The Republicans would never stop talking (and lying) about the economy. Democrats can and should talk up the economy being good and inflation at a whopping 3%.

  11. Citizen99

    But all the Wise Pundits say that Harris must *not* try to defend the economy because the POLLS say that voters THINK the economy is bad. They are even still using terms like "soaring inflation" to explain the "sour mood" of the electorate.

    Never forget: facts don't matter because the polls say people think X, Y, and Z and so reporters MUST report that the polls say people think X, Y, and Z, which makes people who are NOT polled think, "Well, the news says everyone thinks X, Y, and Z so that must be right"

  12. D_Ohrk_E1

    I think the Harris message is: The economy is strong, but clearly it's not strong enough for everyone, especially the blue collar working class and the poor, so we have to especially fight hard for them and that means passing laws to support unions, making America more equitable, and making sure all Americans have a roof over their head and food in their belly.

    1. FrankM

      They could also remind people who passed YUGE tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, with peanuts for working class people.

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