US economy expands by 3% in Q2, exceeding forecasts

The US economy expanded by 3% year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, exceeding the market expectation of 2.5%.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Wednesday that the country's economy also grew by 2% on a quarterly basis, lower than the market forecast of 2.2%.

The annual increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a decrease in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and an increase in consumer spending, the bureau said.

"These movements were partly offset by decreases in investment and exports," it added.

Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, increased 1.2% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.9% in the first quarter, it noted.

It also said that the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.9% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 3.4% in the first quarter.

Immediately after the figures were announced, US President Donald Trump reiterated his call for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates in a statement on Truth Social.

Describing the figures as "WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED," Trump wrote: "No Inflation! Let people buy and refinance their homes."