This doesn't square with invincibility! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6091576.stm
Housing slump batters US economy US economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 1.6% in the third quarter of 2006, its lowest level for three years. Commerce Department figures showed that the slump in the US housing market was largely responsible for the loss of economic momentum. The data showed a 17.4% annual fall in spending on new housing. During the previous three months the economy had grown by 2.6%. Now the rate is at its lowest since the first quarter of 2003, when it was 1.2%. However, some analysts said that consumer spending, buoyed by a fall in fuel prices, would provide a boost to the economy with some forecasting a growth rate of 3% in October to December Voter influences The slump in gross domestic product (GDP), well below Wall Street expectations, comes as a blow to President George W Bush ahead of the US midterm elections next month. Below 2% is certainly a negative surprise and suggests that the economy is cooling off faster than anticipated Michael Woolfolk, Bank of New York The economy, alongside immigration and the war in Iraq, is expected to be a major influence on voters when they go to the polls. Analysts said the news meant an interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve was now unlikely to be imminent - with some predicting a rate reduction as being more probable. The UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said it expected US growth would be revised up slightly but that the picture remained "one of a controlled economic slowdown". "Weak GDP figures will likely give the markets something to worry about, although on the other hand, they will raise expectations that the next move in interest rates will be down," said CEBR senior economist Jonathan Said. In the US, the data also caused a surprise. "Below 2% is certainly a negative surprise and suggests that the economy is cooling off faster than anticipated," said Bank of New York strategist Michael Woolfolk. "But it is certainly in line with the Federal Reserve's story that a moderation in growth will help core inflation come back down into its comfort zone in the mid term." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/6091576.stm Published: 2006/10/27 13:47:20 GMT © BBC MMVI To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
