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

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES

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.