Department of Commerce

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  Personal Spending Surges Even as Confidence Sinks: News Analysis

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  August 29, 2011

  What matters more: consumers’ actual spending or an intangible general mood based on survey data?

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  No Sign of QE3 From Bernanke as GDP Drops, Markets Rise

  By Joyce Hanson, AdvisorOne  |  August 26, 2011

  Markets rose Friday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he was 'optimistic' about the U.S. economy in a speech at Jackson Hold, Wyo., and signaled that the Fed had no plans for a third round of quantitative easing.

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  Real Estate Rebound? Weak Housing Data Hides Seeds of Hope, Analyst Says

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  August 25, 2011

  While this week has produced mostly grim news in the housing sector, a top real estate industry consultant offers a far more encouraging big-picture view of the key economic sector.

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  Home Building Slips in July, Leaving Construction Depressed

  By Derek Kravitz, AP Real Estate Writer  |  August 16, 2011

  The Commerce Department said Tuesday that builders began work on a seasonally adjusted 604,000 homes last month, a 1.5% decrease from June.

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  Global Recession Fears Revive Amid Dismal Economic Reports

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  August 1, 2011

  Manufacturing activity is grinding to a halt in all three of the world's economic engines—the U.S., Europe and China—stoking fears of a new recession.

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  GDP Growth in Q2 Is Feeble 1.3%

  By John Sullivan, AdvisorOne  |  July 29, 2011

  The economy grew 1.3% in the second quarter, according to Commerce Department figures released Friday. The pace was below private-sector expectations of 1.8% growth. Compounding the disappointing numbers, first quarter GDP growth was revised sharply from 1.9% to 0.4%.

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  Markets Spooked by Two Dreary Signals: Debt, Durables

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  July 27, 2011

  It is the forward-looking nature of two key indicators that appears to be weighing on stocks. Declines in durable goods orders mean less manufacturing down the road, and a failure to get a debt deal means the two parties are so at odds they are willing to hold creditors hostage.

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  Tale of Shale: States' Growth Story in Moribund Economy

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  June 14, 2011

  Shale oil brings jobs, independence and stock returns in otherwise moribund economy.

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  Housing Starts Fell Again in April

  By Derek Kravitz  |  May 17, 2011

  For homebuilders, it hardly feels like an economic recovery. Nearly two years after the recession ended, the pace of construction is inching along at less than half the level considered healthy. Single-family home building, the bulk of the market, has dropped 11% in that time.

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  New-Home Sales Rose in March After Weak Winter

  By Derek Kravitz  |  April 25, 2011

  More people bought new homes in March, giving the battered industry a small lift after the worst winter for sales in almost a half-century.