The Capital Spectator’s latest nowcast of third-quarter GDP pares the outlook ever so slightly to real annualized growth of 1.93%, or down a touch from the previous 1.95% estimate. That’s effectively no change from the earlier nowcast, which implies that the outlook for the economy remains in a holding pattern of sluggish growth. That said, the current nowcast represents a small improvement over the 1.7% growth rate for Q2, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Daily Archives: September 19, 2012
Housing Starts Rise In August As New Building Permits Slip
The housing recovery was a bit sluggish in August, although perhaps today’s monthly update is more noise than signal. Nonetheless, the latest residential construction figures from the Census Bureau are a mixed bag: newly issued building permits for housing retreated modestly (-1.0%) in August vs. July while new housing starts in August rose 2.3% over the previous month. It’s not a terribly encouraging batch of numbers, but it doesn’t look especially troubling either. But if we strip away the short-term changes and focus on the annual trend, the numbers still suggest growth will prevail in the months ahead.