25
Jun
US economy better than expected
The US economy shrank at an annualised rate of 5.5% in the first
three months of 2009, better than previously thought, government
figures show.
Gross domestic product (GDP) had been previously estimated at a
5.7% decline.
The fall in GDP now seems to be easing, after shrinking at an
annualised pace of 6.3% in the previous quarter.
But concern about the fragility of the economy was revived by
data showing the number of jobless claims unexpectedly rose last
week.
The Labor Department said the number of people filing first-time
claims for jobless benefits increased by 15,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 627,000. Economists had expected about 600,000 claims.
They had also predicted that the Commerce Department's final
estimate of US GDP would remain unchanged.
'Recession continues'
The slight moderation in the pace of the recession in the first
three months of the year offered some hope that the current
quarter, which ends on 30 June, will be even less sharp.
"The recession continues, but the rate of contraction in the
second quarter should be much slower," said Augustine Faucher,
director of macroeconomics at Moody's Economy.com.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of
domestic economic activity, rose 1.4% last quarter, the department
also said.
It had fallen 4.3% in the final quarter of 2008, the biggest
decline in 28 years.
The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, said this week that
the latest economic data "suggests that the pace of economic
contraction is slowing".
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news Thursday 25th
June