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GDP statistics may prove that the economy is still shrinking but ABC's Betsy Stark was determined to be encouraged nonetheless: "The worst recession since the Great Depression may soon be over," she smiled. GDP declined at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter of the year, the fifth quarter of contraction out of the last six. Stark ticked off the dismal sectors: exports down at a 7.0% rate, business spending 8.9%, consumer spending 1.2%. "The only bright spot is government spending, up 10.9% thanks to the giant stimulus package." On CBS, in-house political analyst John Dickerson told anchor Katie Couric that Barack Obama's White House is "very happy to be able to crow a little bit" about the success of their fiscal plan. On ABC, George Stephanopoulos cited economists' estimates that GDP would have declined at a 4% rate sans stimulus.
CNBC's Trish Regan on NBC and Anthony Mason on CBS took the anecdotal approach to the prospect that the economy may start to grow. An office furniture supplier told Regan that his customers are planning to expand in six months. A New York City harbor party planner told Mason that her corporate clients have started to call again; however, a firm that makes shipping pallets "is seeing only hints of a turnaround." ABC's Stark warned that growth alone is not enough for employers to resume hiring. For that, the economy needs to expand at a 2.5% annual rate. CNBC's in-house economist Steve Liesman was optimistic that the unemployment rate will climb no higher than 10%--if you can call that optimism.
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