The U.S. is expected to report record-setting economic growth in the most recent quarter. But that won't repair all of the damage done during the spectacular downturn three months earlier.
The coronavirus triggered the sharpest economic contraction in modern history in the second quarter as the pandemic hammered the economy, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The committee tasked with marking U.S. business cycles says the economy peaked in February and has since been in a recession triggered by the pandemic. But it says the recession could be short-lived.
The economy contracted in the first quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus began to take its toll and spending dived. It's the first quarterly drop in six years and a likely precursor to a deep recession.
As efforts to slow the coronavirus pandemic temporarily put millions of Americans out of work, forecasters are predicting a record slowdown in the U.S. economy.
The Commerce Department says the U.S. economy grew 2.3% last year. That's slower than the previous year and well below the Trump administration's forecast.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point Wednesday, in an effort to support an economy that continues to tap the brakes. Economic growth in the third quarter was just 1.9%.
GDP numbers out Wednesday show the U.S. economy lost some steam in the third quarter. President Trump is banking on a strong economy as his ticket to a second term.
The Commerce Department says the U.S. economy picked up steam in the first three months of the year. GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first quarter, up from 2.2% at the end of 2018,
The grounding of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft could pinch the economy, some analysts say. But the government reported that aircraft orders were strong enough last month to lift a key indicator.
The U.S. economy grew more slowly at the end of 2018 than initially thought. "GDP growth is slowing from unsustainable rates," one economist says. The slowdown is expected to continue this year.
The U.S. economy expanded at a solid 2.6 percent rate during the last three months of 2018, but growth was significantly lower than it had been earlier in the year as the boost from tax cuts waned.
A key measure of the economy's health showed a dramatic pickup, which President Trump called "amazing." But some analysts doubt the higher growth rate will last.
President Trump is eager to tout a fast-growing economy, boosted by the tax cuts he pushed through Congress. That makes Friday's report on gross domestic product a highly anticipated news event.
Consumers didn't keep up with the blistering pace of spending, which meant slower economic growth. But recently, growth has tended to pick up momentum later in the year.
The Commerce Department revises its growth estimate upward to 2.9 percent for the fourth quarter. Consumer spending helped fuel the faster pace, but import purchases subtracted from growth.
The economy staged a comeback from a tepid first quarter, but still fell short of the turbo-charged 3 percent growth rate promised by the Trump administration.
Friday's GDP report is expected to show a rebound from a weak first quarter. But the U.S. economy still isn't likely to sustain the 3 percent growth rate the Trump administration is promising.
President Trump's proposed budget released Tuesday rests on a key assumption: The economy will grow much faster than it has in recent years — and at a more robust pace than most analysts predict.
