Growth Rate For Economy Is Put at 2.8% --- 'Flash' Estimate of GNP For the Current Quarter Hailed by White House
WASHINGTON -- Government figures showing a 2.8% economic growth rate in the current quarter brought cheers from the Reagan administration because the figures suggested that the economy is slowly pulling out of its year-long stagnation.</br></br>But the annual rate of increase wasn't nearly enough to match White House forecasts, and many analysts say the jump was the result of temporary factors that aren't sustainable.</br></br>The Commerce Department's "flash" estimate of the inflation-adjusted gross national product -- the value of the nation's total output of goods and services -- suggested that the economy is riding an upsurge in consumer and government spending to move ahead of a revised 1.9% annual growth rate in the second quarter and the 1.1% pace of the first half. The department previously reported a 2% growth rate for the second period.</br></br>Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said the figures show "the economy is emerging from the doldrums of the past year."</br></br>But Christopher Caton, manager of short-term forecasting for Data Resources Inc. in Lexington, Mass., said, "The economy's not on the verge of a major recession, but it's not 'Happy Days are Here Again,' either."