According to the Commerce Department, it is announced that helped along by consumer spending, the US economy has expanded for three quarters in a row.
After dragging their heels for several months, consumers finally become a major contributor to economic growth in the first quarter of 2010. Consumer spending grew at an annual rate of 3.6%, which is a big gain from the 1.6% rate of the previous quarter. Purchases of durable goods like cars led the way.
The Commerce Department reported that the broadest measure of the overall economy grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of this year. It had expanded 5.6% in the last quarter of 2009 and 2.2% in the third quarter.
Though the expansion is welcome, it has failed to deliver the level of hiring needed to recover the ground lost during the economic recession.
While consumers may remain cautious about spending due to the tepid growth in job creation and personal income, economists are still hopeful that households will go on picking up the pace of purchasing and make the recovery more sustainable. According to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, it is revealed that consumer sentiment dipped slightly in Aprily. It is hoped that the news of solid, continued growth will bolster business confidence and motivate more companies to expand.
Now the question is, Will the jobs follow?