Sun, Aug 01, 2004 - Page 11 News List

Economists concerned as US GDP slows to 3%

BELOW TARGET Many analysts had predicted growth in the second quarter would reach 3.8 percent. The Bush administration said the figure was not too bad

AP , WASHINGTON

Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis, said the problem was that many of the factors that had provided stimuli, such as Bush's tax cuts and low interest rates supplied by the Fed, were beginning to wane.

Sohn said the GDP report provided evidence that other sectors were beginning to take up the slack, with business investment rising at a solid 8.9 percent rate, propelled by a 10 percent increase in sales of equipment and software.

Inflation remained tame in the second quarter, as reflected by a GDP inflation gauge favored by Greenspan: excluding energy and food, prices rose at an annual rate of just 1.8 percent, down slightly from a 2.1 percent increase in the first quarter.

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