Slowdown

   It had to happen. The American economy is big, but it's not big enough to carry the rest of the world.
   While the U.S. economy surged last year, other major economies, including Europe and Japan and more recently China, struggled. Now, the U.S. economy has been caught in the slowing tide, as the government reported a first-quarter growth of just 0.2 percent for the first quarter of 2015. The Federal Reserve acknowledged the slowdown in its summary of conditions discussed at a meeting in March. And the Fed signaled that it would delay easing its support policy, to keep interest rates below its "normal" rate for some time to come.
   Granted, that GDP report is a preliminary estimate and is subject to revision, but with the world outlook "uneven" for major countries and regions, according to an International Monetary Fund analysis, it would be a good idea to keep a wary eye open, especially as other U.S. government reports back the idea of a slowdown. Examples: New home sales were down 11.4 percent in March from February, building permits for new homes were down 5.7 percent, and the home ownership rate was off 1.1 percent  even as the rental vacancy rate was down by 1.2 percent. Those last two numbers mean that more people are renting, and fewer are buying houses.