US GDP Growth Slowed In 2Q To 1.5% On Weak Consumer Spending

By Mike Obel | July 27 2012 8:42 AM

U.S. GDP grew 1.5 percent in the second quarter, slightly better than economists expected but less than the previous quarter's growth and not enough to bring down the unemployment rate, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday.

Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Consumer confidence dropped in early March

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The quarter's GDP, the value of all goods and services provided in the April-through-June period, reflected a weakening jobs market that curbed consumer spending. While many economists expected a 1.3 percent growth, the bureau's initial estimate of second-quarter growth remained troublesome.

"That's certainly disappointing given where we are in the recovery," said Gus Faucher, senior macro economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

"It's not really strong enough to bring down the unemployment rate. It's definitely a soft quarter. It looks like some of (the second quarter's growth) came from inventories as well and that's a disappointment because that means that underlying demand is even a little bit softer."

The first quarter's GDP was revised upwards to 2 percent from the previous 1.9 percent.