If we could put the recovery of the past few years on a scale, it would be the thinnest in history. Recently, though, it has become downright anorexic.
Goldman Sachs announced today that it is revising down its estimate for second quarter gross domestic product growth to just +1.1%.
Retail sales were expected to gain 0.2% in June, compared with a year ago, but could not even manage that anemic gain and instead declined 0.5%. It was the third consecutive month of decline for the retail sector. Food and beverages, clothing and non-store retailers posted modest gains for the month.
About the only consolation we can take from these numbers is that at least we’re not Europe, which is in another recession.