The numbers are in and the results are that the economy is growing at a sluggish pace, almost too slow to notice.
Although slightly higher than the 1.5 percent that the Commerce Department originally predicted, the April to June quarter growth of 1.7 percent is an omen that the US economy during the last half of the year will not do too much better.
The slight increase rode on somewhat improved consumer spending and increased export trade. But analysts are unhappy that growth did not reach the 2 percent annual rate that the economy experienced during the January to March first quarter of 20012, and nowhere near the 4.1 percent growth seen during 2011’s last quarter.
Economists are not optimistic that the US economy can substantially pull out from its lackadaisical growth trend, expecting similar moderate growth for the rest of 2012 hovering around 2 percent.
‘The economy was sluggish in the second quarter, and the slight upward revision does nothing to change that picture,’’ said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.
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