WASHINGTON (AP) — This morning, the government will revise its estimate of just how fast the economy grew in the April-June quarter.
It’ll be the second of three estimates.
In its first estimate last month, the Commerce Department said the U.S. gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 percent, which was a striking turnaround from the first quarter, when the economy shrank at an annual rate of 2.1 percent. That was the biggest quarterly drop since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009. The decline largely reflected the effects of a harsh winter that kept consumers away from shopping malls, disrupted factory production and depressed the economy.
Economists believe the government will slightly downgrade its second-quarter growth estimate to 3.9 percent.
Most think the trade deficit will prove to have been less of an economic drag than first estimated but that stockpiling by businesses will provide a bit less support.
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