UPDATE 2 - US economy expands 2.8% in 2nd quarter, shows first reading

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy expanded 2.8% in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Commerce Department's first advance reading released Thursday.

The figure came much higher than market estimates of 2%.

The American economy expanded by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024.

The current dollar GDP increased 5.2% at an annual rate, or $360 billion, in the second quarter to reach $28.63 trillion, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

In the first quarter, GDP rose 4.5%, or $312.2 billion, it added.

Personal income increased $237.6 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $396.8 billion in the first quarter, according to the agency.

"The increase primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts," said the statement.

Disposable personal income, meanwhile, increased $186.3 billion, or 3.6% in the April-June period, following an increase of $240.2 billion, or 4.8%, in the first quarter.

Personal saving was $720.5 billion in the second quarter, down from $777.3 billion in the first quarter.

"The personal saving rate — personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income — was 3.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with 3.8 percent in the first quarter," the statement said.

"When I took office, we were in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression", President Joe Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

"Today’s GDP report makes clear we now have the strongest economy in the world."

"Thanks to my and Vice President Harris’s economic agenda, our economy grew a robust 2.8% over the last quarter, based on strong American consumers and business investment. We’ve created nearly 16 million jobs, wages are up, and inflation is coming down. We’re rebuilding the Nation and bringing manufacturing back to America," he added.

Biden said his administration has more to do, and he will continue doing his job over the next six months – lowering costs for families and growing the economy.

He argued that Congressional Republicans would drag the US backward by putting "special interest" first.