U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today made the following statement regarding the U.S. Commerce Department’s downward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) from 1.7 percent to 1.3 percent, signaling the economy is significantly weaker than previously thought:
“Today’s downward reduction of second-quarter GDP is yet another sign that the Obama economy isn’t working. The president’s economic policies have failed to create the economic growth and jobs that millions of struggling Americans so desperately need. Just this week, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Business released a survey that confirmed President Obama’s policies are crushing economic growth and hamstringing employers’ ability to hire workers and grow their businesses. The president’s regulatory policies have led to increased uncertainty in the market and employers are not hiring as a result.
“With a record 43 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent and the worst economic recovery since World War II, America needs pro-growth policies to jump-start our economy and get people back to work. Congressional Republicans are prepared to help get Americans back to work by stopping job-killing federal regulations on our small businesses and extending all tax rates while working on fundamental reform.”
This drop in GDP growth comes after a weak 2 percent growth in the first quarter of this year.