ANKARA
The U.S. economy saw robust expansion in the second quarter, a report from the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday.
U.S. GDP expanded 3.7 percent from April to June, up from 0.6 percent in the first quarter.
"The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures, exports, state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment," the report said.
There was also a deceleration in imports, which reduce the size of GDP.
The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.5 percent in the second quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 1.6 percent in the first quarter. The core price index for gross domestic purchases, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 1.2 percent, compared with an increase of 0.2 percent for the first three months of the year.
Commenting on the increase, Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement: "In the second quarter, the increase in GDP growth was led by a faster pace of personal consumption growth than in the first quarter and a shift from negative to positive net export growth. Structures investment, which declined sharply in the first quarter and was previously thought to have declined in the second, is now estimated to have grown."
Furthermore, intellectual property investment -- including research and development -- has accelerated throughout the recovery, he noted.
The Federal Reserve has indicated that improving economic data could lead to an interest rate increase soon. On Wednesday, however, New York Fed President William Dudley said in a speech that there was less likelihood than previously of a rate hike in September.
