Q2 GDP blowout [With Comment from New York Times]

From Powerline Blog.com (July 30):

We are so back. From the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA),

CNBC has the headline,

U.S. economy grew at a 3% rate in Q2, a better-than-expected pace even as Trump’s tariffs hit.

You will recall that in Q1, the economy appeared to shrink because of a surge of imports trying to beat the clock on new tariffs. Imports count as a negative in the GDP accounting.

The U.S. economy grew at a much stronger-than-expected pace in the second quarter, powered by a turnaround in the trade balance and renewed consumer strength, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

And the mews just keeps getting better,

At the same time, GDP posted its strong rise without help from government spending. Federal outlays declined 3.7%, coming off a 4.6% drop in the first quarter.

July unemployment data will be released on Friday.

JOHN adds: Of course, the New York Times doesn’t see it that way: “U.S. Economy Slowed in First Half of 2025 as Tariffs Scrambled Data.”

Economic growth softened in the first half of the year, as tariffs and uncertainty upended business plans and scrambled consumers’ spending decisions.
***
Taken as a whole, the data from the first six months of the year tell a more consistent story of anemic, though positive, economic growth.

The Times is still hopeful for the future:

Many forecasters expect a further deterioration in the months ahead, as tariffs work their way through supply chains, federal job cuts filter through the economy and stricter immigration policies take a toll on industries that rely on foreign-born workers.

“We don’t think we’ve seen the full effects from tariffs yet,” said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley. “I don’t see how we power through without a soft patch at least for a little while.”

Never give up! [source]

More winning!