— Stephen Stanley, Amherst Pierpont Securities LLC
The US economy expanded at a stronger-than-initially-expected pace in the March quarter amid higher consumer spending. The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the domestic economy grew at an annualised pace of 1.4% in the Q1 of 2017, following the preceding quarter's expansion of 2.1% and surpassing the prior estimate of 1.2% growth. Thursday's data showed that the Q1 growth figure's revision was driven by stronger consumer spending, which climbed 1.1% during the reported period, compared to the preliminary reading of a 0.6% increase. However, that was the weakest reading since the Q2 of 2013. Despite the GDP upward revision, the Trump administration's plan to lift annual US economic growth to 3% remained challenging. As to the June quarter, weak retail sales figures, sluggish manufacturing production growth and low inflation suggested that the economy failed to regain positive momentum in the Q2. Other data released on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing for jobless aid rose 2K to 244K in the week ended June 23, whereas analysts anticipated a fall to 241K.
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