The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.5 per cent during the April-June period, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its final revision for the quarter.
July’s initial estimate of 1.7 per cent was revised last month to 2.5 per cent and unchanged in the third estimate from the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The final estimate of first—quarter growth was 1.1 per cent.
The rate-setting Federal Reserve last week lowered its projection for 2013 to a range of 2 to 2.3 per cent growth in gross domestic product, from an expectation in September of 2.3 to 2.6 per cent. The central bank’s forecast for 2014 was 2.9 to 3.1 per cent, down from 3 to 3.5 per cent.
That move came amid data suggesting the economy remains weak.
The Consumer Confidence Index, based on a long—running monthly survey commissioned by the New York—based Conference Board, dipped in September to 79.7, down from 81.8 last month, the business think tank said Tuesday.
For the 12 months through August, consumer inflation was 1.5 per cent, the Labour Department reported last week.
August saw 500,000 people dropped out of the job market, one of the highest numbers in months, bringing down the unemployment rate to a five-year low of 7.3 per cent.
Amid the signs of weakness, the Federal Reserve last week decided to maintain the pace of its extraordinary monetary policy, continuing to buy government bonds at a pace of $85 billion a month, which has pumped more than $1 trillion in the last year into a 16—trillion—dollar economy.
Fed chief Ben Bernanke said the central bank might not raise its benchmark interest rate, at an unprecedented near—zero since December 2008, even if unemployment drops below a target of 6.5 per cent for tightening monetary policy, if inflation remains significantly under 2 per cent.