The U.S. Commerce Department announced that the economy grew at the annual rate of 6.4% in the January-March quarter and noted it was better than the 4.3% growth in the previous October-December quarter of 2020. The department also announced that U.S. incomes surged in March by a record breaking 21.1%. Consumer spending rose 4.2% in March, the best showing since June 2020.
All the good news reflecting: (a) the billions of dollars in government support payments aimed at putting the country firmly on the road to recovery. (b) And economists are saying, widespread vaccinations and declining virus cases, the reopening of more businesses and the huge infusion of federal spending should help sustain steady growth for the balance of 2021.
The next report to look for is the Labor Department's report of job creation and the unemployment rate for April which will be released next week. We already know from reports the number of people receiving unemployment aid reached its lowest point since the pandemic began last year.
So the first three months of 2021 has a good start for the nation and the U.S. economy and it is important now that President Biden's infrastructure plan be passed by Congress (with or without GOP support) and implemented to keep the economy growing and creating more jobs. The success of the first three months was not surprising to the readers of PolitiDose because they were aware of precedent and the democratic party's success at governing.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
