The US economy had a better second-quarter rebound than first estimated, reports FTAdviser sister title FastFT.
The world’s largest economy expanded at a 4.2 per cent annual rate in the second quarter of the year, according a second estimate from the Commerce Department released on Thursday.
Economists had forecast a first estimate of 4 per cent would be trimmed to 3.9 per cent.
Household spending, which five years on from the financial crisis remains the key driver of US growth was unchanged in the second estimate from the first, but business investment expanded at a faster pace than initially forecast.
Real fixed investment climbed at a 8.4 per cent pace, according to the second estimate, up 5.5 per cent first estimate.
Gennadiy Goldberg, a strategist at TD Securities, said: “Businesses began to put cash to work in Q2 as the US economy rebounded from the early-year growth stumble.”
Exports also contributed more to the quarter’s growth, climbing 10.1 per cent - higher than an initial estimate of 9.5 per cent.
Overall, it was the strongest three months for for the US economy since the third quarter of last year.
The rebound in second-quarter offered reassurance that the economy’s contraction in the first three months of the year was anomalous.
Evidence that the economy has regained momentum has intensified the debate - both inside and outside the US Federal Reserve - about when the central bank will raise interest rates.
A third and final estimate of GDP for the second-quarter will be released on September 26.
Click here to see a chart showing the quarter-on-quarter percentage changes in US economic growth since 2008.
