Consumers have maintained their optimism amid signs of slower growth. The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment for July was 92.4, little changed from 92.6 in June. The measure of expectations increased to 88.4 this month from 86.9 in June.
Tame inflation already makes it easier for central bankers to further cut lending rates if they choose. The GDP price deflator rose at a 2.3 percent annual pace, compared with 3.3 percent in the first. The personal consumption expenditures price index, watched by Greenspan, rose at a 1.7 percent annual pace, down from3.2 percent in the first.
Real final sales, which exclude inventories, rose at a 0.7 percent annual rate, after rising at a 4 percent rate in the first quarter.
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