and somewhat confusing u.s. economy. new data shows the economy shrank 0.6% in the second quarter, said another way that shrinking slightly less than first thought. the u.s. also is seeing a decrease in the number of people filing for new unemployment benefits, said another way, the labor market is still strong. this comes as americans try to understand what president biden s student loan debt plan what it means for them and their families, even as some members of his own party say it misses the mark. republicans are unified in saying they don t think it is fair, and some economists say that it could fuel inflation. there is a lot to get to. let s begin with cnn s matt egan on this new economic data. what do you see in all this, matt? the economy s spring slump wasn t as bad as feared. second quarter gdp was just revised up by the government, in part because americans spent more money than originally reported. the bad news is that despite this upgrade, the economy still shr
under the income limit of $125,000, a single person. and you re going to get a $10,000 break or if you had a pell grant, $20,000 break. it is delivering for you. if you re a working class person who never went to college, you re not going to get any of this $300 billion, it is going to cost the government. there is also the concern about inflation. larry summers, probably more accurate about projecting inflation than anybody says, look, these people spending that paying off their student loans, that s more money in their pocket, they re going to go out and spend, that raises demand, that raises prices, that raises inflation. which may well be the number one concern. the number one economic concern of most americans, according to the polls. so it didn t deliver for them. so let me ask you, on the economy, actually, the economic news out this morning, the way christine romans put it this way is pretty perfect, the outlook for the economy is looking less lousy. second quarter gdp decl
this shrinking, the new jobs number shows the market is still strong, but inflation is still a huge problem. whenever we have anyone from the white house on and i ask them to set their bar or their goal of when they are going to think we re out of the inflation w woods, they will not go there. is it clear to you how good it has to get for people, voters, the public, to feel like it is getting better? well, certainly lower. you re talking eight close to 9% inflation. nobody thinks that s good. it is a hard question. and totally subjective question. if it is 6% or 7%, less lousy than 8% or 9%, people may say as we do, a lot of us with gas prices when it is a dollar lower than a month ago, you know, that s better. whether that s enough to make them vote for democrats rather than republicans, that s a real question. and one of the reasons, you know, mentioned earlier, jay
and somewhat confusing u.s. economy. new data shows the economy shrank 0.6% in the second quarter, said another way that shrinking slightly less than first thought. the u.s. also is seeing a decrease in the number of people filing for new unemployment benefits, said another way, the labor market is still strong. this comes as americans try to understand what president biden s student loan debt plan what it means for them and their families, even as some members of his own party say it misses the mark. republicans are unified in saying they don t think it is fair, and some economists say that it could fuel inflation. there is a lot to get to. let s begin with cnn s matt egan on this new economic data. what do you see in all this, matt? the economy s spring slump wasn t as bad as feared. second quarter gdp was just revised up by the government, in part because americans spent more money than originally reported. the bad news is that despite this upgrade, the economy still shrank for th
that is a big deal because one common rule of thumb is that back-to-back quarters of negative gdp means the economy is in recession. but that is just a rule of thumb. the national bureau of economic research, they re in charge of officially declaring a recession and they take into account a wide range of metrics, including jobs. and all signs are that the jobs market continues to chug along. new numbers out today show that initial jobless claims fell for the second month in a row, during recessions you expect a surge of layoffs, but we just aren t seeing that. all of this leads up to a big speech tomorrow from one of the most powerful people on the planet, fed chairman jay powell. powell is going to drop some hints about what the fed has to do to get inflation under control. everyone wants to know, how much higher do interest rates have to go? and the answer to that question, kate, is going to go a long way in deciding whether this economy can keep growing or stumble into recession.