Economic growth south of the border sputtered this spring with cautious businesses largely offsetting stronger consumer spending.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the U.S., grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.2% in the second quarter. The figure was well below the 2.6% growth economists had forecast.
The gain marks only a slight acceleration from the first quarter, when GDP advanced at a downwardly-revised 0.8% pace. The first quarter was previously seen as increasing 1.1% from the prior period
Annual revisions, also released Friday, did show the U.S. economy expanded 2.6% in 2015 from 2014, marking the best yearly gain since 2006.
In the second quarter, consumer spending rose strongly stateside. Personal consumption, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic output, expanded at a 4.2% rate, the best gain since late 2014. Outlays on goods advanced 6.8%. Spending on services climbed 3%.
