SIGH: Obama's policies causing the eonomy to tank again

NYTimes: U.S. Economic Growth Slows to 1.8% Rate in Quarter

The American economy slowed to a crawl in the first quarter, but economists are hopeful that the setback will be temporary.

Total output grew at an annual pace of 1.8 percent from January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday, after having expanded at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

When the year first began, economists had been expecting a much more robust growth rate of about 4 percent, only to be barraged by bad report after bad report as the days wore on. Higher commodity prices and winter blizzards that shuttered businesses and delayed construction were among the main causes of the slowdown. For example, nonresidential structures — that is, construction of offices and other buildings — fell by 21.7 percent compared with an increase of 7.6 percent at the end of 2010.

A large decrease in federal defense spending and a widening of the trade gap were other drags on output that forecasters expect to reverse themselves later in the year.

WE NEED TO ADOPT THE RYAN BUDGET NOW AND START DRILLING MORE HERE! AND WE NEED TO OUT A STOP ON THE SO-CALLED "GREEN ECONOMY" WHICH IS DRIVING UP FOOD PRICES.

UPDATE: JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE, TOO.

OBAMANOMICS SUCKS. WHY? IT'S KEYNESIAN AND LEFTIST AND THEY'VE NEVER EVER WORKED.