<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

U.S. economy grew at brisk 4.2% rate in Q2

Analysts now expect second half of year to be far stronger than first half

The Columbian
Published:

WASHINGTON — After a bleak start to the year, the U.S. economy grew at a brisk annual rate of 4.2 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Thursday, slightly faster than it had first estimated.

The upward revision supported expectations that the second half of 2014 will prove far stronger than the first half.

The Commerce Department’s second estimate of growth for last quarter followed its initial estimate of 4 percent.

The upward revision reflected stronger business investment than first thought.

The seasonally adjusted 4.2 percent annual growth rate for the gross domestic product — the nation’s total output of goods and services — came after the economy had shrunk at a 2.1 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter. That was the economy’s biggest drop since the depths of the Great Recession, and it reflected mainly the effects of a harsh winter that kept consumers away from shopping malls and disrupted factory production.

Many economists say they expect growth of around 3 percent in the current July-September quarter and for the rest of the year.

During a White House news conference Thursday, President Barack Obama took note of the upward revision to growth.

“There are reasons to feel good about the direction we are headed,” Obama said.

“Companies are investing, consumers are spending,” he said.

Still, he acknowledged that “there is a lot more that we should be doing to make sure that all Americans benefit from the progress that we have made.”

Obama said he would press Congress when it returns next week to take further actions to boost the economy.

The government’s upwardly revised estimate of business investment last quarter showed capital spending growing at an annual rate of 8.4 percent last quarter. That was sharply higher than the government’s initial 5.5 percent estimate.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the strength in business investment has likely extended into the current quarter, lending support to the economy.

In its second estimate of growth for last quarter, the government said companies’ restocking of supplies contributed less than it had first estimated. But a higher trade deficit subtracted less from growth than initially estimated.

The downward revision in inventory building will likely help boost growth in the current quarter because it means that businesses may need to restock their supplies to meet demand.

With the wild swing between the first quarter’s sharp slump and the vigorous rebound last quarter, annual economic growth has averaged a meager 1.1 percent for the first six months of this year.

Because of the rocky start, economists think growth for all of 2014 will average just 2.1 percent, little changed from last year’s 2.2 percent increase.

Loading...