US Q2 GDP growth unrevised at 2.1%; weekly jobless claims edge higher
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. economy maintained a fairly strong pace of growth in the second quarter, the government confirmed on Thursday, and appears to have gathered momentum this quarter amid a resilient labor market.
Gross domestic product increased at an unrevised 2.1% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate of GDP for the April-June period on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected GDP for the second quarter would be unrevised.
Growth for the first quarter was revised up to a 2.2% rate from the previously reported 2.0% pace.
The government also revised GDP data from 2017 to incorporate new source information and made some statistical improvements such as the treatment of regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts.
GDP was revised down in each of the first quarters of 2020, 2021 and 2022 mostly due to downgrades to consumer spending growth. But the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the agency that constructs the GDP report, said there was no evidence that residual seasonality, which plagued the GDP data several years ago, was an issue.
The government also introduced new price measures, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food, energy and housing, and PCE services excluding energy and housing, or the so-called super core inflation.
Federal Reserve officials are focused on the super core price measure as they try to gauge progress in their fight against inflation. Since March 2022, the U.S. central bank has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25%-5.50% range.
The economy is being underpinned by a resilient labor market, which is driving strong wage gains.
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