US economy strong performance, raises recovery hopes

The US economy recovered more strongly than initially thought in the second quarter with a bigger portion of the growth driven by domestic demand in a bright sign for the future, the National Bank of Kuwait said in its weekly economic report. "The (US) gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 4.2 percent annualized rate, up from an initial estimate of 4 percent and following a first-quarter contraction," reads the report.
"The revised second-quarter 2014 GDP numbers continued to confirm that activity rebounded sharply after the weather-related decline in the first quarter. Strong employment gains for most of this year are expected to keep quarterly GDP growth slightly above 3 percent in the third quarter and maintain this rate on average during 2015." Meanwhile, the new home sales in the US fell unexpectedly in July for the second month in a row, but a surge in the stock of properties on the market and slower price gains should help stimulate demand in the months ahead, noted the report. US business confidence Indicator rose unexpectedly by 2.1 percent, reaching 92, 4 points, the highest level since October 2007, the report pointed out.
Germany's business confidence indicator declined for a straight fourth month, reflecting an uncertain Euro-area economic recovery, especially German market is the main momentum to economic recovery in the Eurozone, it added.
"European Central Bank took measures to boost economic recovery as the CPI inflation in the Eurozone fell last August." "United Kingdom's consumer confidence rallied to its highest level since 2003, as Britons became more confident about the economy and their financial prospects." In the meantime, the report noted that the Japanese prices continued to improve in July with the rate of inflation remaining steady, suggesting that the country's economic recovery trend remains intact despite the recent contraction in growth.