US economic growth accelerates to 4.1%

Second-quarter growth was the fastest recorded by the US since the third quarter of 2014

Donald Trump: “Somebody actually predicted today, 5.3. I don’t think that’s going to happen - 5.3. If it has a 4 in front of it, we’re happy. If it has like a 3 but it’s a 3.8, 3.9, 3.7, we’re OK.”

Fri Jul 27 2018 - 13:45

The US economy accelerated in the second quarter of this year with growth hitting an annual rate of 4.1 per cent.

The first estimate of US growth in the three months to June 30th matched the estimates of Wall Street economists compiled in a Reuters poll. In the first quarter, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent, according to the US commerce department.

The second-quarter growth was the fastest recorded by the US since the third quarter of 2014.

Ahead of Friday's release US President Donald Trump, who has made boosting growth one his main economic promises, broke with tradition by predicting a "terrific" number.

“Somebody actually predicted today, 5.3. I don’t think that’s going to happen - 5.3. If it has a 4 in front of it, we’re happy. If it has like a 3 but it’s a 3.8, 3.9, 3.7, we’re OK,” he told steel workers in Illinois on Thursday.