The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.1% annual pace from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, the government said Wednesday in a downgrade from its initial estimate.
File – A worker prepares materials and construction parts at the Boeing Interiors Responsibility Center in North Charleston, S.C., on May 31, 2023. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department issues its second of three estimates of how the U.S. economy performed in the second quarter of 2023.(Gavin McIntyre/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool, File)(AP/Gavin McIntyre)
The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 2.4% annual rate last quarter.
The Commerce Department’s second estimate of growth last quarter marked a slight acceleration from a 2% annual growth rate from January through March. Though the economy has been slowed by the Federal Reserve’s strenuous drive to tame inflation with interest rate hikes, it has managed to keep expanding, with employers still hiring and consumers still spending.
Wednesday’s report on the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — showed that growth last quarter was driven by upticks in consumer spending, business investment and outlays by state and local governments.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the U.S. economy, rose at a 1.
