from CNBC:
"A slew of weak U.S. economic data is casting doubts over expectations of a pick-up in growth in the second half of the year.
From manufacturing to job growth to consumer spending,
the numbers have been grim, and economists are wondering whether they
need to dial down forecasts for the remainder of the year.
"Our
sense was that of a gradual improvement. Now the sense is of muddling
along at a low level of activity," said Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief
economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. "We went from seeing
progress, though gradual and very uneven, to not seeing progress at
all."
The economy grew at a 1.9 percent annual pace in the first quarter and estimates for the April-June period are increasingly coming in around 1.5 percent.
A
high level of uncertainty as Europe struggles with a debt crisis and as
the United States stares at the prospect of a sharp budgetary
tightening at the start of next year seem to have led businesses and
ordinary Americans to watch their dollars carefully.
