Second Quarter Growth Of The US Fell Short Of Expectations

Second-quarter growth of the US fell short of expectations. The US posted 6.5 growth in the second quarter.

While the US economy showed an annualized growth of 6.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, weekly unemployment claims declined. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, the economy grew by 6.5 percent on an annualized basis in the April-June period. The median expectation of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 8.4 percent.

Growth in the first quarter was revised to 6.3 percent.

While growth is expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year, increased Delta variant cases pose a significant threat to the economic outlook. The rise in inflation is expected to continue and supply chain problems are expected to hit the economy. On the other hand, according to the data released today, weekly unemployment benefits applications decreased by 24 thousand to 400 thousand, exceeding the estimates of 385 thousand. 4-week average unemployment benefits applications increased by 8 thousand compared to the previous week and reached 394 thousand 500.