US Economic Expansion

From Charlie Bilello's  twitter feed:  "US economic expansion hits 102 months, 3rd longest in history. At 2.3%, real GDP during this expansion remains the slowest."

Real GDP growth today came in at 2.6% for the 4th quarter and that's below the expected 3% reading by most economists. There's been a lot of speculation on why GDP growth has been so slow in this recovery and it's not worth the time to put those reasons on this blog. Let's just accept that it's been slower than the historical average. The chart above is proof of that. Here are a few thoughts as we look forward. First, those 4th quarter readings don't show any of the benefits that could come from the changes in the tax code. The extra money that's going to show up in individual's and corporation's pockets hasn't been spent yet. Also it's possible that the slow pace of this expansion has added to its longevity. Finally maybe we're going to see the highest expansionary readings in the coming months. If that's the case then these numbers could begin to edge up.

Back early next week.

Twitter link for the chart above: Charlie Biliello's Twitter Link {I must say that though I am new to following Charlie, I think he does excellent work.}