MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
US economy expands at an annual 2.3% in 2Q; strong consumer spending
Consumer spending grew at a rate of 2.9% in the second quarter, compared with 1.8% in the first three months of the year. 
Recent figures have shown the US economy creating more than 200,000 jobs a month, and the unemployment rate has now dropped to 5.3%. The US economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.3% in the three months to June, official figures have shown. The figure - the first estimate of growth in the second quarter - followed an upwardly revised growth rate of 0.6% in the first three months of the year. The Commerce Department said growth was boosted by increased consumer spending and cheaper fuel prices.
Analysts said the figure could make the US Federal Reserve more likely to raise interest rates in September.
The 2.3% annualized growth rate is equivalent to 0.6% growth quarter-on-quarter, as measured in most other countries. For example, on Tuesday, official figures showed that the UK economy grew by an estimated 0.7% in the April-to-June period from the previous quarter.
“Updated GDP numbers deliver a double-punch to US economy doom-mongers, painting a reassuringly bright picture of the health of the US economy so far this year and raising the odds of the Fed hiking interest rates in September,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at research firm Markit.
The 0.6% annualized growth rate for the first quarter of the year was an improvement on the previous estimate of a 0.2% contraction. Consumer spending - a key driver of the US economy, grew at a rate of 2.9% in the second quarter, compared with 1.8% in the first three months of the year.
Recent figures have shown the US economy creating more than 200,000 jobs a month, and the unemployment rate has now dropped to 5.3%.
However the annualized growth rate for the second quarter was weaker than the 2.7% expected by economists and overall, the recovery has been slow.
The Commerce Department also downgraded its estimates for US growth between 2011 and 2014, saying the economy expanded at an average annual rate of 2% rather than the 2.3% previously forecast, underlining the tepid expansion.
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Read all commentsGosh... where is “we are Chavez” Stevie, and “Maduro is our Hermano”, Brassiero??
Jul 31st, 2015 - 09:03 pm 0Analysts think that this is a 5-10yr upswing on the U$. They are saying Euro at .75/1 in 2 years.
Aug 01st, 2015 - 01:16 pm 0That doesn't bode well for China or any other emerging nation.
I think when China collapses and people analyze the last decade they'll find that they were the worst purchaser of assets ever seen. They bought stuff nobody wanted and then overpaid. When they start to liquidate, and they will, someone's going to get some very good deals.
For example they're sitting on massive amounts of oil that they paid U80 for and its going into the 20s in the next few years, you can put in any commodity in place of oil.
Not to change here, does anyone know what the interest rates are on the “so called” vulture bonds that that refer to as usury? I think the RG's do not understand the time value of money.
Aug 02nd, 2015 - 03:24 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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