US economy grows 3.0% in Q2, surpassing Wall Street expectations after Q1 contraction.
Hey, remember when Donald Trump’s tariff wars would crater the global economy? Recall when the Protection Racket Media hyperventilated over a massive trade imbalance in Q1 to declare the start of a Trump recession?
You can bet they won’t recall it, but the rest of us should after today’s advance estimate of economic growth in the second quarter. The US economy grew at a 3.0% annualized rate, easily beating expectations on Wall Street:
The U.S. economy returned to growth in the second quarter after contracting in the first, largely due to trade swings.
The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced across the economy—rose at a seasonally and inflation adjusted 3.0% annual rate in the second quarter.
The reading exceeded the 2.3% growth that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected.
Surprise! Except . not really. The economy actually looked strong in Q1 as well, with strong business investment and decent levels of consumer spending. The reason the report dipped into negative territory was a massive expansion of imports, as business and producers attempted to beat Trump’s anticipated tariffs. The resulting massive trade imbalance knocked five full points off GDP, and even that only barely took the official reading into negative territory.
