Federal government numbers released today show the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, a growth rate lower than the first quarter and another sign of a glacially slow economic recovery. Household spending was down, according to the U.S. Commerce Department report, and so was spending by state and local government.

According to the New York Times, weak growth boosts the chance that the Federal Reserve will intervene with a third round of buying up unwanted assets from banks, known as "quantitative easing."