Economy offers little cheer ahead of holidays Cho

Economy offers little cheer ahead of holidays
Choppy, stop-and-go pattern of growth expected to persist into early 2014
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy remains stuck on slow-revolving merry-go-round that won’t bring much mirth ahead of the holiday season.

The plodding nature of the economy is likely to be underscored by the latest snapshots of retail sales, existing-home sales and manufacturing. None of the reports this week are expected to show much — if any — improvement.

Don’t look to the Federal Reserve to offer much solace, either. The minutes of the central bank’s last big meeting in late October are expected to reflect uncertainty about when the Fed should start to cut back on a massive economic-stimulus program meant to speed up U.S. growth. Most economists don’t expect the Fed to ease the throttle until early 2014.

“It looks like we are going to see a softer fourth quarter,” said Sam Bullard, an economist at Wells Fargo. “Underlying domestic demand is running in place, confidence is still depressed historically speaking and the unemployment remains above 7%. That’s producing a cautious consumer.” http://www.marketwatch.com/story/economy-offe...atest_news

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