Recovery Stalls as Consumers Tighten

We're not out of the woods yet: Economists say the latest numbers from the Commerce Department spell bad news for the rest of this year, despite the fact that businesses are posting better profits. Figures released Friday show that the U.S. economic recovery has slowed in the second quarter. The national gross domestic product grew at a 2.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, down from an upwardly revised 3.7 percent in the first quarter and 5 percent in the last quarter of 2009. According to other recent reports, consumer spending is still at a low level as people remain skeptical on the economy's growth, and consumers have yet to see their earnings rise.