U.S. Economy Slows Dramatically in Spring
17 minutes ago
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 3 percent in the spring, a dramatic slowdown from the rapid pace of the past year, as consumer spending fell to the weakest rate since the last recession, the government reported Friday.
The Commerce Department (news - web sites) said that the gross domestic product, the country's total output of goods and services, slowed sharply in the April-June quarter from a 4.5 percent growth rate in the first three months of the year.
The size of the slowdown caught economists by surprise. Many had been looking for GDP (news - web sites) growth to come in around 3.8 percent in the second quarter. Even that would have been a sharp deceleration for an economy that had been growing at a 5.4 percent annual rate through the year ending in March.
It raised the issue of whether the economy, which Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) said last week had encountered a "soft patch" in June, could be in danger of seeing growth falter even more in coming quarters.
In one piece of good news, inflation pressures eased with a key GDP inflation gauge that excludes energy and food rising at an annual rate of just 1.8 percent in the second quarter, down from a 2.1 percent increase in the first quarter.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=6&u=/ap/20040730/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy
u.s. economy slows dramatically in spring !
Add ASX (ASX) to my watchlist
 (20min delay)
|
|||||
|
Last
$64.07 |
Change
0.370(0.58%) |
Mkt cap ! $12.35B | |||
| Open | High | Low | Value | Volume |
| $63.80 | $64.12 | $63.70 | $1.697M | 26.55K |
Buyers (Bids)
| No. | Vol. | Price($) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 60 | $64.06 |
Sellers (Offers)
| Price($) | Vol. | No. |
|---|---|---|
| $64.08 | 54 | 3 |
View Market Depth
| Last trade - 10.44am 07/06/2024 (20 minute delay) ? |
|
|||||
|
Last
$64.05 |
Change
0.370 ( 0.28 %) |
||||
| Open | High | Low | Volume | ||
| $63.83 | $64.12 | $63.78 | 2970 | ||
| Last updated 11.04am 07/06/2024 ? | |||||
| ASX (ASX) Chart |