What can data tell us about prospects for the US?

Progress is never a straight line. Life would perhaps be easier if it was, but the reality is that we live in a world of uncertainty. Stepping away from philosophical deliberations into the more mundane world of economic forecasting, this means that we seldom (maybe never) encounter a situation in which all data releases point in exactly the same direction. The advantage of this is that economists can prove their skills by looking at the big picture painted by these data points and assessing whether or not the underlying trends point to an increase or decrease in growth momentum. T...