Weaker economy won’t change timing of Fed’s taper

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weaker-economy-wont-change-timing-of-feds-taper-2013-06-26?link=MW_home_latest_news

The government estimated Wednesday that gross domestic product increased at a 1.8% annual rate in the first three months of the year, instead of the 2.4% rate estimated a month ago. The sharply lower growth rate was due to less consumer spending on services and less business investment than initially reported.

Final sales to domestic purchasers were revised down from a 3.2% annual rate to 1.3%, the slowest in two years. That means demand in the economy wasn’t nearly as strong as we — or the Fed — thought as the fiscal belt tightened in the first quarter.

Normally, you might think that this reconsideration of the pace of the recovery might prompt the Fed to reconsider the timing of the upcoming tapering in bond purchases, which has totally freaked out global financial markets.