Lehman Brothers The US economy shrank less than expected in the second quarter, as aggressive government spending has eased the pace of contraction, signalling that the worst of the longest recession on record is over.
US gross domestic product declined by an annualised rate of 1 per cent in the second quarter after plunging by 6.4 per cent during the first three months of the year, according to official figures released on Thursday. The result was unchanged from the original estimate by the commerce department in July and was better than the 1.5 per cent decline projected by economists.
