Economic news on the U.S. front was mixed this week, although signs of a slowdown continue to persist.

Firstly, the advance estimate of the 2nd Quarter U.S. GDP came out at a +1.5% annualized rate.  Believe it or not, this was largely in line with consensus expectations (lower than some, higher than some others from analysts who have been engaged in a race to lower these estimates as fast as possible).  From a composition standpoint, growth in final domestic sales increased by the same +1.5%, consumer spending increased more than anticipated and investment in equipment/software and housing were up +7% and +10% respectively.  However, government spending was down on both the federal and state/local levels.  The GDP price index and core price indexes grew in the same range (+1.6% and +1.8%). Read more