FILE - Amazon employees load packages on carts before being put on to trucks for distribution for Amazon's annual Prime Day event at an delivery station on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in South Gate, Calif. Consumers and businesses are driving economic growth in the nation.
Business investment was up last quarter, led by a 11.6% annual increase in equipment investment. Growth also picked up because businesses increased their inventories. On the other hand, a surge in imports, which are subtracted from GDP, shaved about 0.9 percentage point from the April-June growth. “This is a perfect report for the Fed,” Olu Sonola, head of economic research at Fitch Ratings, said of Thursday’s GDP numbers. “Growth during the first half of the year is not too hot, inflation continues to cool and the elusive soft landing scenario looks within reach.”This year’s economic slowdown reflects, in large part, the much higher borrowing rates for home and auto loans, credit cards and many business loans resulting from the Fed’s aggressive series of interest rate hikes.