The Economy Heads For A Soft Landing As Workers Head For Shorter Work Weeks

The US economy is in rude good health. It grew at an annual rate of 2.4 per cent in the second quarter; first quarter estimates were revised from 1.3 to 2.0 per cent. Suddenly, a no-recession consensus is rearing its lovely head. Of course, that proves that the life of a consensus, even the one aborning, can be a short one – a month ago the consensus favored a recession. Data dumps over the summer might send the lemmings scurrying in a different direction.

Add that inflation is coming down and that real disposable personal income in May clocked in at 4 per cent above May 2022, enough to give Joe and Jane the plumbers what the President says his father taught him the middle class needs, “a little bit of breathing room.” Not enough to remove inflation from the top of the list of Americans’ complaints, to the chagrin of President Biden as he remains unable to persuade voters to reward him for the success of Bidenomics – most Americans don’t want him to run again.