U.S. Economy Improves in the April-to-June Quarter
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
Washington - The U.S. economy showed modest improvement in the April-to-June quarter mostly on increased consumer spending and a modest improvement in trade, the U.S. Commerce Department reported September 29.
The economy reflected in the gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of all goods and services produced in the United States, grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2011, based on more complete data, Commerce economists said.
The U.S. economy is a crucial engine for growth in global economic activity and movements in the GDP, international trade, employment and monetary policy are closely monitored by world governments and international financial markets. World currency markets also monitor U.S. economic activity because the U.S. dollar acts as the reserve global currency that underpins the 24-hour-a-day foreign exchange market that also links to the flow of global investments.
The Commerce Department reported that the GDP for the first quarter grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent. For the first six months of 2011 the U.S. economy grew at annual rate of 0.9 percent. Most major economists have forecast modest economic growth for the United States in 2011, not another recession.
The National Association of Business Economists has forecast that for all of 2011 it expects an annual growth rate of about 1.7 percent and a growth rate of 2.3 percent in 2012.
"Factors supporting growth include accommodative monetary policy, growth in the rest of the world, business investment spending, and pent-up consumer demand," the association said in its September outlook report.
The new GDP report exceeds the preliminary forecast of growth at 1 percent for the second quarter that was reported in late August by the Commerce Department.
Separately, the U.S. unemployment rate in August was at 9.1 percent, but a weekly report from the Labor Department indicated that the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell slightly. Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 391,000, which was the fewest since April 2, the Labor Department reported.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)
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