There is such a tight correlation between energy use (specifically petroleum demand) and economic growth that it is almost unthinkable to suggest that one could actually have a recovery in the economy absent a recovery in petroleum demand.
But that’s what we are being asked to believe, if we put the results of two separate government reports together that both happened to come out today. The first says that the US economy shrank by only 0.18% percent in the second quarter, or at an annualized rate of 0.7%. The second says that oil demand in July retreated to a level last seen 13 years ago.
These do not make sense in the least, and one of them has it dead wrong. You know where I am going with this already, don’t you?
Here’s the first:
U.S. economy shrinks less in second quarter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy contracted in the second quarter at a slower pace than previously thought, while a surprise slide in manufacturing activity in the country’s Midwest region in September pointed to a patchy recovery from recession.
Gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, fell at a 0.7 percent annual rate instead of the 1.0 percent decline it reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
And here’s the second:
U.S. July oil demand lowest in 13 years
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Tuesday revised down U.S. oil demand in July to 4 percent below year-ago levels
by cmartenson 
