Aug. 27, 2010 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy grew at a 1.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter, less than previously calculated, as companies reined in inventories and the trade deficit widened.
The revised gain in gross domestic product was bigger than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and compares with a 2.4 percent estimate issued last month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Corporate profits grew last quarter at the slowest rate in a year and employee wages in the prior three months were revised lower.
Recent figures showing slowdowns in housing, business investment and consumer spending are prompting economists to cut second-half growth forecasts. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told global central bankers meeting in Wyoming today that while the recovery has been slow to strengthen, “preconditions” for growth in 2011 are “in place.”
“The economy has slowed a bit and will probably continue to slow through the second half,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We’re skating on thin ice, and we don’t have a lot of margin for error.”
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