U.S. Economic Growth Falls Short as Supply Chain Disruptions Stunt Recovery

The U.S. economy grew at a disappointing 6.5 percent annual rate second quarter in another sign that the effect of government stimulus spending has fallen short of expectations even while inflation has been hotter than anticipated.

Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — failed to accelerate significantly in the April-June quarter from the 6.3 annual growth rate recorded for the first quarter of the year. The first quarter was revised down by a tenth of a percentage point from earlier reports.

The annualized figure was far less than analysts had expected, but the economy was likely held back mainly by supply shortages in goods, components, and labor. According to Econoday, the median forecast was for eight percent growth. Other surveys had penciled in far more growth. The surveys by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal had growth at 8.4 percent. On Wall Street, some analysts were saying growth could come in at a nearly 10 percent rate.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, GDP grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter and 1.5 percent in the first three months of the year.