US economy grows at 2.6% in second quarter

The US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its first provisional estimate.

That was more than double the growth rate of the first quarter, which was downwardly revised to 1.2 per cent from a previously reported 1.4 per cent pace, Efe news reported.

The 2.6 per cent increase in gross domestic product was in line with economists' forecasts and exceeded the 2.1 per cent growth rate in the final quarter of 2016.

The faster pace of expansion was driven by 2.8 per cent annual growth in consumer spending, up from a 1.1 per cent rate of growth in the first quarter.

But exports expanded at just a 4.1 per cent clip in the second quarter, compared to 7 per cent growth between January and March.

Annual US GDP growth has come in at less than 3 per cent for 11 consecutive years, with the world's biggest economy expanding at a rate of just 1.6 per cent last year, its slowest pace since 2011.

US President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20, has vowed to bring about sustained economic growth rates of between 3 per cent and 4 per cent annually by boosting infrastructure spending and sharply lowering the corporate tax rate.

--IANS

soni/dg