Exports push up GDP to 3.3% pace

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Economic growth accelerated to a 3.3-percent annual pace in the second quarter as exports fueled activity, the government said Thursday in a revised estimate of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Commerce Department revised up last month's estimate of a 1.9-percent pace of growth in GDP.

The figure was better than the average Wall Street estimate of 2.7 percent and showed a strong acceleration from the 0.9-percent rate of the first three months of the year.

The latest figures, helped somewhat by a massive economic stimulus, suggest the world's biggest economy had more momentum than previously thought by analysts, many of whom anticipated recession.

Still, few analysts expect this pace to continue since consumer spending is sluggish...