Gross domestic product grew at a solid 4.1 percent pace in the second quarter, boosting hopes that the economy is ready to break out of its decade-long slumber.
The number matched expectations from economists surveyed by Reuters.
That’s the fastest rate of the growth since the third quarter of 2014 and the third-best growth rate since the Great Recession.
In recent days, White House officials have been indicating the reading will be strong.
President Donald Trump himself tweeted a few days ago that the U.S. has the “best financial numbers on the planet,” while National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow predicted on Thursday that Q2 GDP will be “big.”
The administration has used a mix of tax cuts, deregulation and spending increases to goose growth. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told CNBC earlier this week that deregulation likely has had the most impact so far as companies feel more comfortable about committing capital.
The next question will be whether the growth spurt is sustainable. There were several jumps in GDP under former President Barack Obama. That Q3 increase in 2014 was preceded by a 4.6 percent rise in the second quarter. But by the end of 2015, growth had slowed to 0.5 percent. Federal Reserve officials forecast GDP to rise 2.8 percent for all of 2018 but then to tail off to 2.4 percent in 2019 and 2 percent in 2020.
Economists surveyed by Reuters expected that gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 percent annualized rate.
