A few weeks ago, in another thread I mentioned that the economy was softening. I was immediately attacked by one of my professional haters for being clueless.

My comment was only a statement of fact based on my own immersion in the economy.

So---here are the emerging facts, extracted from the WSJ today:

By Harriet Torry
Updated Oct. 30, 2019 11:30 am ET

WASHINGTON—U.S. economic growth settled in at a lower gear in the third quarter, with consumer spending and housing investment increases offsetting a business investment drop.

Gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S.—rose at an annual rate of 1.9% from July through September—adjusted for inflation and seasonality, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, compared with 2.0% in the second quarter.

“I think it’s consistent with an economy that’s just moving back towards trend,” Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said of the growth reading.

The stronger-than-expected growth rate was boosted by government and consumer spending, residential investment and exports. Still, business spending declined for the second quarter in a row. Investment in structures dropped sharply, particularly those related to the petroleum and natural gas industries.

The Commerce Department report showed the divergence between relatively solid consumer spending and falling business investment continued from the second quarter into the third, as the long-simmering trade war with China escalated. The report came hours ahead of a scheduled rate announcement from policy makers at the Federal Reserve, who conclude a two-day policy meeting later Wednesday.

The central bank cut interest rates twice in the third quarter. Officials are expected to again cut the benchmark federal-funds rate by a quarter percentage point, to a range between 1.50% and 1.75%, aiming to shield the economy against growing risks of a sharper economic slowdown.