U.S. Economy Slowly Recovers from Worst Recession on Record
By MacKenzie C. Babb
Staff Writer
Washington - The U.S. economy has grown for the eighth straight quarter, showing an increase in the gross domestic product at a 1.3 percent annualized rate from April to June, according to the Commerce Department.
The growth came in below private-sector expectations of 1.8 percent, according to the latest GDP report from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The statistics, released July 29, revised growth for January to March from 1.9 percent down to 0.4 percent, indicating a near stagnation of the U.S. economy.
Another notable revision was to 2009 figures. GDP for that year was revised down 0.9 percentage points, which Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a July 29 statement indicated that "the recession was even more severe than initially estimated." The recession is already recognized as the deepest since official quarterly estimates began in 1947, according to the White House.
The GDP measures a country's total output of goods and services and serves as a primary indicator of economic health.
Locke said the economy "isn't growing as fast as it needs to" and called on U.S. leaders to build on progress made toward financial recovery since 2009 by enacting legislation to reduce the country's debt while strengthening job-creating capacities and enhancing global competitiveness for the future.
Austan Goolsbee, chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said the United States is "at a fragile moment in the world economy and cannot afford to do anything to undermine our recovery." He said the unemployment rate remains "unacceptably high" and that faster growth is needed to replace jobs lost in the economic downturn.
Goolsbee said the report "underscores the need for bipartisan action to help the private sector and the economy grow," through measures to create jobs, extend unemployment insurance and continue the payroll tax cut. He also called on Washington to pass pending free trade agreements, to create an infrastructure bank to help create American jobs and to take a "balanced" approach to deficit reduction.
Goolsbee said increases in net exports, fixed investment and federal government spending contributed to the second quarter growth. But the gains were partly offset by a decline in spending by state and local governments, a sharp drop in motor vehicle purchases and an increase in imports, he said.
The Commerce Department will release its revised second quarter growth estimates August 26.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)
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