July 2015

There were 1,576 posts published in July 2015 (this is page 6 of 158).

Statement from Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Senate Confirmation of Jeffrey Prieto as General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2015 — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today made the following statement on the Senate Confirmation of Jeffrey Prieto as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I am grateful for Jeff’s ongoing commitment to America’s rural communities and I look forward to the contributions he will make in his new role as General Counsel. A skilled public servant with many years of experience in the federal government, Jeff has worked diligently as part of the USDA team since his arrival as Principal Deputy General Counsel in June of 2014. Before joining USDA, Jeff served with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division since 1999, most recently as the Deputy Executive Officer and General Counsel. I am certain that as USDA’s General Counsel, Jeff will continue to advocate on behalf of America’s ranchers, farmers and families with integrity, expertise and purpose.”

Source: The USDA.

Advance Estimate of GDP for the Second Quarter of 2015

Real GDP rose faster in the second quarter than in the first, even after a large upward revision to first-quarter growth. Strong personal consumption led the rebound as consumers spent more of the windfall gains from lower oil prices that they had saved in the first quarter, and many of the temporary factors that restrained growth in the first quarter faded. The President is committed to pushing Congress to increase investments in infrastructure as part of a long-term transportation reauthorization, to open our exports to new markets with new high-standards free trade agreements, and to ensure that fiscal brinksmanship or the sequester does not return in the next fiscal year as outlined in the President’s FY2016 Budget. 

FIVE KEY POINTS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

1. Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.3 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter according to the BEA’s advance estimate, while first-quarter GDP growth was revised up from a 0.2 percent decline to a 0.6 percent increase. The revision to first-quarter GDP growth is mostly accounted for by higher fixed investment growth than previously estimated, in both the business and residential sectors. In the second quarter, the rise in GDP growth was led by a faster pace of personal consumption growth than the first quarter and a shift from negative to positive net export growth. The drag from declining structures investment was also much less negative for overall growth in the second quarter than in the first. Incorporating the effects of the annual GDP revision released today (see point 2), real GDP has now risen 2.3 percent over the past four quarters.

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