Radio commentary, July 2, 2011

[I’ve gotten out of the habit of posting these. Here’s last week’s — this week’s to come later today.] U.S. economic slowdown • the depressing debt ceiling debate   slowdown The mostly weak tone of U.S. economic data continues, following the precedent of disappointment set by the torpid employment report for May. First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell only slightly last week, and the four-week average remains quite high—not at recession levels, but at stalling recovery levels. And the number of people continuing to draw benefits, which had been in a long… Read More