Economy Surges to 4.1 Percent Growth Rate in Q2

(CN) — The U.S. economy surged in the April-June quarter, growing at an annual rate of 4.1 percent, the Commerce Department said Friday.

That's the fastest pace since 2014. The jump was largely driven by consumers who began spending their tax cuts and exporters who sought to get their products delivered ahead of retaliatory tariffs.

The government say the gross domestic product, the country's total output of goods and services, posted its best showing since a 4.9 percent gain in the third quarter of 2014.

In recent days, President Donald Trump has been teasing that a good report would be released this morning, due to his economic policies.

In a speech at the White House on Friday, Trump said the country is growing at the "amazing" rate and suggested that "we're on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years."

Trump also stubbornly insisted his harsh position of tariffs and trade have helped the economy, and he predicted that will continue to do so.

"We're going to go a lot higher than these numbers and these are great numbers," Trump said.

But economists believe the second quarter surge is mostly attributable to one-time or temporary factors and growth will likely slow to about 3 percent for the rest of the year.

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