US economy up 3% in second quarter

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 31, 2017 06:00 am

WASHINGTON : The US economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two years in the second quarter, much faster than initially estimated, official data showed yesterday.

Hitting the White House growth target for the first time in Mr Donald Trump's presidency, gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3 per cent in the April-June period, the Commerce Department reported.

The figure was revised up by an unusually-large four-tenths from last month's growth estimate, due to higher consumer spending and business investment than in the initial report.

The rate surpassed analysts expectations, which called for an increase of 2.7 per cent. But growth in the first half of the year was just 2.1 per cent, still below the 2.2 per cent average recorded over the last three years. - AFP