Current US economic expansion cycle is the slowest on record

The US economy grew by 2.6% in the second quarter boosted by consumer spending, according to official data published on Friday (28 July).

In a scheduled release the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the US agency that compiles gross domestic product data, said last quarter's growth rate came in at 1.2%, revised down from 1.2%.

The economy grew at 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The BEA also said the economy grew 2.9% in 2015, an upward revision from the 2.6% it had estimated earlier; making it the strongest growth since 2005.

The annual GDP revision, which covered data from 2014 through to the first quarter of 2017, also indicated that the US economy performed worse than previously estimated in 2016.

The economy grew 1.5% last year, revised downwards from the 1.6% the government estimated earlier, making it the slowest growth rate since the 2007-09 recession triggered by the global financial crisis.

According to the BEA, the revisions mostly reflected swings in inventory investment and exports.

Overall, the revisions did not change the US economy's broader picture and confirmed that the current expansion cycle is the slowest on record.