Washington — The US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the second quarter as consumers boosted spending and farmers rushed shipments of soyabeans to China, to beat retaliatory trade tariffs before they took effect in early July. GDP rose at a 4.1% annualised rate also as government spending picked up, the commerce department said in its snapshot of second-quarter GDP on Friday. That was the strongest performance since the third quarter of 2014. GDP growth for the January-March quarter was revised up to a 2.2% pace from the previously reported 2.0% rate, to account for new source information and methodology improvements. Compared to the second quarter of 2017, the economy grew 2.8%. Output expanded 3.1% in the first half of 2018, putting the economy on track to achieve the Trump administration’s target of 3% annual growth.
A measure of domestic demand surged at a 4.3% rate in the second quarter. Ahead of the release, US President Donald Trump and members o...
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