US 2015 Q2 GDP

US 2015 Q2 GDP (credit: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Real gross domestic product — the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes – increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015, according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.6 percent. It has been said that an annual rate of at least 4% is required to prevent increased unemployment.

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Commentary: Although US second quarter GDP growth reached a reasonable pace, this is only for one quarter.  First quarter growth was much lower. Further, the US still runs sizable and ultimately unsustainable Federal budget and trade deficits, while health care costs continue to spiral, and consumer debt is once again increasing.