US grows briskly at 4.2% in 2nd quarter
Print Edition
AFTER a bleak start to the year, the US economy grew at a brisk annual rate of 4.2 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said yesterday, slightly faster than it had first estimated.
The upward revision supported hopes 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 3 percent in the July-September quarter and for the rest of the year.
The government’s upwardly revised estimate of business investment last quarter showed capital spending rising at an annual rate of 8.4 percent for the three months. That was higher than the government’s initial 5.5 percent estimate.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the strong business investment has likely extended into the current quarter, boosting 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.
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