US Economic Growth Slower Than First Thought

Posted July 29th, 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC-5)
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The U.S. economy grew at a slower rate than economists had estimated in the first half of this year.

Friday’s updated report from the Commerce Department says the gross domestic product expanded at just a 1.3 percent annual rate.

The GDP is the sum of all the goods and services produced in a nation and is the broadest measure of economic health.

High gasoline prices and unemployment hampered the consumer spending that drives most U.S. economic activity. Growth was also hurt by declining spending from state and local governments, which saw tax receipts fall.

The economy is struggling to recover from the recession between 2007 and 2009, when GDP declined.

A government report Friday says the recession was even worse than first estimated. Between the last few months of 2007 and the middle of 2009, the U.S. economy shrank 5.1 percent. That is one percentage point more than earlier estimates.