Economy grew at 6.5% annual rate in second quarter, slower than expected, as US emerges from pandemic
District of Columbia | July 29, 2021
The economy grew had one of the largest quarterly expansions in United States history after a year fraught by the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 6.5% annual rate in the first quarter of 2021, the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced on Thursday morning. The growth was short of expectations but indicates that economic growth is heading in the right direction following last year’s pandemic-induced recession.
Economic forecasters had estimated that the economy, spurred on by pent-up demand and a glut of federal stimulus spending, would grow by 8.5% during the second quarter. Thursday’s figures were being closely watched as they represent the first entire quarter since President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
The first quarter of 2021 also saw impressive growth, with the economy growing at a 6.4% annual rate. Last year was punctuated by wild quarterly swings, with the second quarter (April, May, and June) contracting at a record 31.4% rate followed by the third quarter paring those losses and rising more than 33%.
While GDP is growing at a fast clip, employment rates in the U.S. are still being held back from pre-pandemic levels. The economy added 850,000 new jobs in June, eclipsing expectations, but the unemployment rate slightly rose to 5.9% in June, way above last February’s extremely low 3.5% rate….
(Excerpts from the Washington Examiner)