The US economy showed robust performance from April to June, growing by 2.4 percent, which is a good sign because it’s the fourth time in a row that it’s grown.
Before this, experts thought the economy would only grow by 1.8 percent. So, the actual 2.4 percent growth was a pleasant surprise. This is even better news because people were worried that prices were going up too fast.
According to the Commerce Department, the US economy is still doing great. This statement came after the Federal Reserve changed its prediction from a small recession to better times later in the year.
There are three important things we can learn from these numbers:
First, the prices for things we buy have been going up less. This is because the Federal Reserve are making it a bit harder to borrow money. This is good news for everyone.
Second, the prices for things Americans buy such as groceries and energy went up by 2.6 percent from April to June. This is less than the 4.1 percent growth from January to March.
Lastly, the Federal Reserve also looks at a special way to see how prices are changing. It went up by 3.8 percent from January to March, which is less than the 4.9 percent before.
Even though the Federal Reserve made borrowing money harder, it looks like people are still doing a good job at work. This is because the economy is still growing and people are being productive.
“The second quarter saw a strong productivity growth indicated by a 2.4 percent rise in non-farm business’s value-added, an almost unchanging index for aggregate hours, and a decline in self-employment,” Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said.
The US economy’s robust performance came as Americans build more factories and made more investments.
“GDP growth was robust in the second quarter with a 2.4 percent annual rate. The pattern shows a partial shift with consumption growth moderating to 1.6 percent while fixed investment increased to 4.6 percent,” Harvard University economist Jason Furman said on Thursday.
“The investment boom contributes to the sustained strong growth in the second quarter.” Baker added.
