America’s economic recovery lost momentum between April and June as consumer spending stalled. The disappointing growth figures have triggered the concern of a potential Japan-syle scenario of protracted stagnation.
The world’s biggest economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4% in the second quarter, which was down from a revised 3.7% in the first quarter of the 2010. the recession, which is already the worst in the US ever since the 1930s, was deepr than previously feared as gross domestic product fell by a cumulative 4.1%.
The rate of growth in the second quarter was weaker than the 2.5% forecast by Wall Street analysts, partially due to the big increase in imports. This had the effect of dragging down GDP via reducing the level of America’s net trade.