What would Greek exit mean for the U.S. economy?

Uncertainty over the fate of the euro currency is already dampening U.S. economic growth and any significant worsening of the crisis would deal a blow to a recovery that is gradually gathering steam. Economists ...

WASHINGTON — Business economists believe the country will see modest growth in 2013 with strength coming from a further rebound in housing which will help offset weakness in business investment. In its latest survey of top forecasters, the National Association for Business Economics says it is looking for the economy to grow in 2013 by 2.1 percent after 2.2 percent growth in 2012. That would continue the same tepid growth the country has seen since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009. Growth at that pace is not strong enough to make a significant improvement in unemployment.

"Unexpected" weakness and downward revisions are hallmarks of the beginnings of recessions. And so it it with durable goods. Economists had forecast a gain, instead there was a 1.6% drop. Moreover July was revised lower as well.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish pace in the fourth quarter although a big gain in business investment and higher exports of services led the government to push up its previous estimate for growth. Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.4% annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, just below the 0.5% gain forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Doug Short submits: The headline economic signal for the coming week will be Thursday's advance estimate for first quarter GDP.

Doug Short submits: The headline economic signal for the coming week will be Thursday's advance estimate for first quarter GDP. In preparation for that announcement from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), here's a snapshot of GDP since 1947 together with the real (inflation-adjusted) S&P Composite.

U.S. economic data has been coming in surprisingly strong. And last Friday's better-than-expected income and consumer spending data has prompted many Wall Street economists to revise up their Q1 GDP forecasts.

OTTAWA — Chilly inflation and lukewarm growth aside, Canada’s economy is still a relatively stellar performer compared to other development countries. That’s something Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty are fond of reminding us. We already know price increases are going sideways, for now, and interest rates are frozen, for even longer. This week, though, Canada’s bragging rights could be put to the test.