US economy grew at 1.3 percent pace in spring

By Patrick Rizzo

The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish pace in the second quarter as persistent joblessness, turmoil in Washington, a downgrade of the nation's credit rating, higher energy prices, the aftermath of an earthquake in Japan and just a lack of confidence all took their toll on businesses, stocks and consumers.

The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the economy grew at a 1.3 percent pace in the spring, up from the previous estimate of a 1.0 percent growth rate. Thursday's data is the third and final revision for the snapshot of the output of goods and services produced by businesses and property in the U.S.

"The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and federal government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending and private inventory investment," the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis report said.