GDP

Odds of a soft landing may have just gotten a little better.

The latest employment report from the Labor Department shows job growth held steady last month, boosting hopes that the Federal Reserve may be able to curb inflation without triggering a sharp jump in unemployment.

U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in July. While job growth has moderated, it hasn't come close to stalling, even after the Fed raised interest rates to the highest level in 22 years.

Here are five takeaways from the report.

The U.S. economy expanded by an annual rate of 2.4 percent between April and June, powered by brisk government and consumer spending, and marking an acceleration of growth from the first three months of the year.

The new gross domestic product figures, released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, showed the economy expanded for the fourth straight quarter in a row.

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.4% annual rate last quarter, remaining well clear of a recession despite higher rates

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2% in the second quarter.

Strong consumer spending—which accounts for about two-thirds of economic output—has been fueling the U.S. economy, amid easing inflation and a tight labor market.

The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023, according to gross domestic product (GDP) statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday morning.

Real GDP increased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2022 after being revised up from an initial estimate of 1.1%, according to the BEA. Economists expected the GDP would be around 2% in the second quarter of 2023, following high inflation and an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. 

Weaker than market expectations, China’s economy grew by 6.3 per cent in the second quarter – largely thanks to the coronavirus lockdown-induced low base last year, raising questions of how deep Beijing’s toolbox will be to reverse the weakening momentum for the rest of the year.

The official data released on Monday indicated continued uneven post-pandemic recovery, with faltering private confidence, record high youth unemployment and overhanging risk in the property market.

The U.S. economy showed much stronger than expected growth in the first quarter than previously thought, according to a big upward revision Thursday from the Commerce Department.

Gross domestic product increased at a 2% annualized pace for the January-through-March period, up from the previous estimate of 1.3% and ahead of the 1.4% Dow Jones consensus forecast. This was the third and final estimate for Q1 GDP. The growth rate was 2.6% in the fourth quarter.

The upward revision helps undercut widespread expectations that the U.S. is heading toward a recession.

U.S. economic growth decelerated to a 1.1% annual rate in the first quarter as consumers faced high inflation, rising interest rates and the onset of banking problems.

The rise in U.S. gross domestic product in the first three months of the year marked a slowdown from inflation- and seasonally adjusted 2.6% growth in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Economic growth slowed to 1.1% in the first quarter of this year, down from 2.6% the quarter before, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday morning.

Economists had expected gross domestic product growth to increase by 2%, so the preliminary report is weaker than forecast. The report still indicated some resilience to the economy in the face of several major headwinds.

The US economy slowed to an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of this year, according to GDP data released Thursday by the Department of Commerce.

That falls below economists’ expectations of 2% and marks a much slower pace compared to the previous two quarters, as rising interest rates and high inflation weighed on consumers and businesses.

Growth in the U.S. slowed considerably during the first three months of the year as interest rate increases and inflation took hold of an economy largely expected to decelerate even further ahead.

Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced for the period, rose at a 1.1% annualized pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting growth of 2%.

The growth rate followed a fourth quarter in which GDP rose 2.6%.