Two major Federal Reserve Banks say that gross domestic product growth for the second quarter of 2017 will end up being significantly lower than expected by many economists. Though official numbers won’t be released by the United States Department of Commerce until later this month, models run by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are projecting 2.7 percent and 1.9 percent growth, respectively, for the second quarter, the New York Times reports.
This comes after a disappointing first quarter of 2017—the first economic quarter of Donald Trump’s presidency—that showed only 1.4 percent growth, in sharp contrast to the White House’s promises. Throughout the campaign, and upon taking office, Trump promised that his policies would result in 4 percent gross domestic product growth. On Monday he tweeted: “Really great numbers on jobs & the economy! Things are starting to kick in now, and we have just begun!”
Really great numbers on jobs & the economy! Things are starting to kick in now, and we have just begun! Don't like steel & aluminum dumping!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2017
While the June jobs report, due out on Friday, is indeed expected to show an increase in hiring, according to the New York Times, those jobs increases, alongside most other economic indicators, show no sign of deviating from the 2 percent recovery rate that has persisted for the past eight years under President Barack Obama.
