Demand Up, U.S. Economy Shows Gains
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| Source: wwwthetimes.co.uk |
Nelson D. Schwartz, Aug. 26, 2014, Nytimes.com
The American economy is gaining renewed momentum, with data released on Tuesday suggesting strong demand by businesses for airplanes, machinery and other manufactured items, as well as rising confidence among consumers, despite a cooling in the housing market.
Overall orders for durable goods in July jumped by 22.6 percent, the biggest one-month increase since the Commerce Department began compiling this series of data in 1992.
That strength, though, was exaggerated by a huge surge in demand for airplanes made by Boeing.
Excluding the always-volatile transportation sector, core capital goods orders fell by 0.5 percent in July, but remain up more than 11 percent over the most recent three months on an annualized basis.
“The U.S. economy is on solid ground,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS. “Europe is struggling, Japan is struggling, but all of this suggests the U.S. is doing quite well.”Continue reading the main story
Europe has been hurt by the austerity policies in place across much of the Continent, he said, noting that growth essentially stalled in the second quarter. After a very weak first quarter, Mr. Behravesh estimates the United States economy will grow at a rate of roughly 3 percent over the remainder of 2014.
The American economy is gaining renewed momentum, with data released on Tuesday suggesting strong demand by businesses for airplanes, machinery and other manufactured items, as well as rising confidence among consumers, despite a cooling in the housing market.
Overall orders for durable goods in July jumped by 22.6 percent, the biggest one-month increase since the Commerce Department began compiling this series of data in 1992.
That strength, though, was exaggerated by a huge surge in demand for airplanes made by Boeing.
Excluding the always-volatile transportation sector, core capital goods orders fell by 0.5 percent in July, but remain up more than 11 percent over the most recent three months on an annualized basis.
“The U.S. economy is on solid ground,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS. “Europe is struggling, Japan is struggling, but all of this suggests the U.S. is doing quite well.”Continue reading the main story
Europe has been hurt by the austerity policies in place across much of the Continent, he said, noting that growth essentially stalled in the second quarter. After a very weak first quarter, Mr. Behravesh estimates the United States economy will grow at a rate of roughly 3 percent over the remainder of 2014.
Read the full story: www.nytimes.com
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