OVERNIGHT MONEY: Extra eyeballs

That may not seem like such bad news, but it was disappointing after economists anticipated the more complete data provided by the second estimate would boost that number up closer to 2.3 percent. And economists say the economy needs to grow at roughly a 3 percent rate to keep up with new workers entering the workforce.

Right on the heels of that report, the Labor Department reported that first-time applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, and now linger at 424,000 (economists generally think any figures below 400,000 signals steady job growth).

Put those two together, and you see why the next bit of data on spending and income might be watched especially closely.

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR:

Like a G-8: As Europe continues to struggle to get its hands around Greece’s debt crisis — a situation that has not been helped by the criminal charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund head — President Obama will be attending several meetings of G-8 leaders.

{mosads}He starts the day in France, meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy before participating in several working session with G-8 leaders. Later in the day, he swings over to Poland to meet with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski. The economic struggles in Europe and America will surely be common topics of discussion at those meetings.

Where do you think you’re going?: The Senate may be readying for its Memorial Day recess, but that doesn’t mean Republicans are happy about it.

Spearheaded by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Budget Committee’s ranking member, the 47-member GOP Senate conference wrote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday, asking that he delay any recess until Senate Democrats release a fiscal 2012 budget. 

In somewhat related news, conservative senators have called on the House to stand in the way of a Senate recess, so that the president cannot use his recess appointment powers to install Elizabeth Warren at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The rocker and the nun: Keep your eyes peeled: The Hill has a profile coming out Friday of Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

To tide you over until tomorrow, we’ll give you a peek into Donovan’s, yes, coffee table book collection. On top? Bon Jovi. Why? Because, as the secretary explained, Bon Jovi has worked to battle homelessness in Philadelphia with a local organization called Project H.O.M.E., co-founded by Sister Mary Scullion.

“I’ve gotten to know him,” Donovan said. “He likes to joke: The rocker and the nun.”

Economic indicators:

— A final report on consumer confidence will be released by Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan, and could show that consumers have a more positive outlook of current and future conditions. 

— The National Association of Realtors is seen as likely to announce that pending home sales showed no change in April after a 5.1 percent increase in March. 

BREAKING THURSDAY:

Beijing-bound?: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the president’s choice for ambassador to China, got what the Washington Post described as a “friendly welcome” from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.

On the economic front, Locke told the panel he would focus on a couple of issues important to the U.S.: the Chinese currency and intellectual protection. 

More Grover: Bloomberg Businessweek takes the latest look at Grover Norquist, and the anti-tax activist’s dispute with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). 

The takeaway? “Grover Norquist has no real precedent in American politics,” the magazine says of the keeper of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. “A single unelected actor with a single issue, he holds immense power over the Republican Party’s fiscal platform, and, through it, the national policy debate.”

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

On the Money’s Thursday:

— More and more House Dems are on board for Elizabeth Warren.

— And the progressives, too!

— Senate GOP to Geithner: Default would be on you!

— Plus: Do you have a contingency plan?

— Hatch: TAA doesn’t have the legs.

— Sheila Bair: Raise that debt ceiling!

— GOP jobs plan breaks out the tax reform.

— Bipartisan group of lawmakers push for tax rule repeal.

— And fixed mortgage rates hit low point of the year.

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