The US has grown at the slowest pace in two years, making investors question how long America’s bull run since the global financial crisis can last.
First quarter gross domestic product growth disappointed, based on the surge of the US dollar, making business less competitive for exporters, sinking investment and American consumers keeping a tighter pinch on their wallets.
GDP growth, the measure of all goods and services from the US, between January and March reached a paltry annualized rate of 0.5 per cent, according to Commerce Department data.
That result would be significantly less than 2015’s overall GDP growth at 2.4 per cent.
The high cost of war is damaging the global economy
Household purchases, which account for almost three quarters of the economy, rose at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent, compared to 2.4 per cent in the final three months of 2015. Spending has also slowed down – despite very cheap petrol prices as oil has continued to drop.
Low oil prices also resulted in a shocking annualized drop of investment – by 86 per cent in the mining sector, the lowest since 1958.
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