by William Gallo
U.S. President Donald Trump touted the economy’s strong second quarter performance Friday, saying “we’re on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years.”
The U.S. economy grew at a 4.1-percent annualized rate in the second quarter, its fastest pace in nearly four years, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
“As the trade deals come in one-by-one, we’re going to go a lot higher than these numbers, and these are great numbers,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
Trump said the economy is on a growth track of more than three percent this year, and noted that each percentage point “means approximately $3 trillion dollars and 10 million jobs.”
The president added the trade deficit, which is “very dear to my heart because we’ve been ripped off by the world,” dropped by more than $50 billion.
The growth of the second quarter gross domestic product — a measure of goods and services produced in the U.S. — was its strongest since the 4.9-percent third quarter 2014 growth rate and in line with economists expectations.
Analysts anticipated U.S. President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut that went into effect at the beginning of the year would provide a boost to the economy by triggering more consumer spending and business investment.
Trump’s trade wars with U.S. exporters rushing to beat the imposition of tariffs were also expected to contribute to the economy’s growth. Many economists, however, expect those same disputes to hamper the economy in the months and years ahead.
Net exports provided more than 1-percentage point to the quarter’s growth rate, as they increased significantly.
Watch President Trump talk about today’s economic report:
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Wayne Lee contributed to this report.
