The U.S. Economy Surprises on the Upside

Recession? What recession? The U.S. economy grew by more than most had been expecting at the start of the year, pushing downturn fears further into the long grass. In the latest signal that the economy is in better shape than most thought just a few months ago, official figures showed that the U.S. economy expanded by 3.2 percent in the first quarter of the year. This dwarfed the majority of economists’ expectations for growth of around 2 percent. What’s more, output would’ve been even higher if it wasn’t for the partial government shutdown that took place at the start of the year, with the Bureau of Economic Analysis noting that it knocked 0.3 percentage points off growth. “This is a big, positive surprise — we had penciled in 1.7 percent annualized in our March Global Economic Outlook forecast,” Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings, said. The quarterly rise was mainly driven by a net trade gain as exports rose and imports slumped as many companies rushed goods into the U.S. last year in anticipation of higher tariffs, which have yet to materialize. Higher inventories and government spending also played a part. This helped to make up for a slowdown in consumer spending to 1.7 percent, from

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/2GJDEiP