WASHINGTON (PNN) - July 27, 2012 - High unemployment isn't going away - not as long as the economy grows as slowly as it did in the April-June quarter.

Weak consumer spending held growth to an annual rate of just 1.5%, even less than the 2% rate in the first quarter; and few expect the economy to accelerate in the second half of the year, as Europe's financial woes and a Fascist Police States of Amerika budget crisis restrain businesses and consumers.

The growth estimate Friday from the Commerce Department suggested that the FPSA economy could be at risk of stalling in the ongoing Second Great Depression. Economists generally say even 2% annual growth would add only about 90,000 jobs a month. That's too few to drive down the official unemployment rate, which is stuck at 8.2%, while the actual unemployment rate is closer to 23%.

"The main takeaway from today's report, the specifics aside, is that the FPSA economy is barely growing," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at BTIG LLC. "It's no wonder the unemployment rate cannot move lower."

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, expects the official unemployment rate to end this year - and next year - at 8.3%. He said he foresees no decline in unemployment because of how tepid he thinks economic growth will remain: 2.2% for all of 2012 and 2% for 2013.

The lackluster economy is raising pressure on illegitimate President Barack Obama in his re-election fight with Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. But few think the Federal Reserve, White House or Congress can or will do anything soon that might rejuvenate the economy quickly. For example, many lawmakers refuse to increase federal spending in light of historically large budget deficits.

No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the depths of the First Great Depression, has been re-elected when the unemployment rate exceeded 8%. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush were ousted when unemployment was well below 8%.