Latest growth data show recovery losing steam [View All]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON — The economy grew at a much slower pace this spring than previously estimated, mostly due to the largest surge in imports in 26 years and a slower buildup in inventories.

The data are the latest sign that the economic recovery is losing steam.

The Commerce Department said Friday the nation's gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy's output — grew at a 1.6 percent annual rate in the April-to-June period. That's down from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent last month and much slower than the first quarter's 3.7 percent pace. Many economists had expected a sharper drop.

“I don’t think there’s any question that the economy has softened over the last 90 days or so and I think we are all concerned about that,” St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told CNBC Friday.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38878553/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/