US economy grows 2.6% in second quarter

This article is more than 12 months old

Jul 29, 2017 06:00 am

WASHINGTON: The US economy gathered speed in the second quarter, more than doubling the growth pace of the first three months of the year as consumer and defence spending accelerated, according to data released yesterday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 2.6 per cent in the April-June period, compared to 1.2 per cent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported.

The preliminary result, which is calculated from incomplete data that will be revised in the coming months, undershot analyst expectations by two-tenths of a point and portrayed an economy facing significant headwinds.

A widening trade gap as well as slowing housing sales, business inventories and spending by state and local governments all weighed on growth, according to the Commerce Department.

The outcome for the second quarter and the downwardly-revised growth in the first quarter, put growth in the first half of 2017 at 1.9 per cent, above the 1.5 per cent recorded last year and close to the economy's long-term trend growth rate of 2 per cent.

The Trump administration has pledged to push the economy to 3 per cent growth or higher. - AFP