US GDP in the fourth quarter of last year slowed growth to 2.2% in annual terms against a 3.4% rise in the previous quarter. Thus, the country's Department of Commerce revised downward its preliminary estimate of a 2.6% growth. Economists had expected the revised growth estimate to be at 2.3%. At the same time, the growth rate of the US economy over the whole 2018 remained unchanged - at the level of 2.9%. Compared with a growth of 2.2% in 2017, the pace of economic growth last year accelerated and became the highest since 2015. In the fourth quarter, consumer spending rose by 2.5% year-on-year, while government spending showed a decrease of 0.4%. For the quarter, corporations reduced pre-tax profits for the first time since the beginning of 2017, their figure fell by 0.4%. At the same time, relative to the same quarter of the previous year, the profit increased by 7.4%.
On Friday, Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) announced a lower second-quarter profit because of the recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The decline was due to lower sales volume and changes in dealer inventories. During the second quarter ...
Asian shares recorded a turbulent session on Friday as weak economic data from the United States and surging coronavirus infections worldwide dragged market confidence. The decline followed despite upbeat U.S. tech gains and signs of rebound ...
On Thursday, the United States’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) suffered the biggest economic decline in the second quarter as the surge of coronavirus cases affected the whole country. The U.S. government decided to shut down restaurants, ...
Thailand's finance ministry on Thursday cut back its 2020 economic forecast to a record 8.5% contraction in GDP. This is a substantial contrast from a 2.8% growth it expected in January as the COVID-19 situation continued to worsen. The ministry’s ...
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd looks forward to the second half of the year as it expects a larger increase in chip demand brought by new smartphone launches. However, the company warned that the coronavirus crisis and trade disputes carry risks. Samsung, ...