Us joy at economic 'surprise'

New figures from the US have revealed a major economic surprise…

According to the US Commerce Department, the economy performed better in the first few months of 2008 than anyone expected. The economy grew at an annual pace of 0.9% between January and March, up from a previous estimate of 0.6% growth.

This latest boost followed recent figures showing orders of durable goods to be healthier than expected. New orders for manufactured goods fell by 0.5% last month but this represented half the 1% decline that had been expected.

Nick Bennenbroek, currency strategist at Wells Fargo commented: "0.9% growth is hardly a stellar performance for the economy but things looked worse back in January when the job figures were turning negative."

The National Association of Business Economics is forecasting annualised growth of just 0.4% in the second quarter although it expects growth to pick up to 2.2% in the third quarter.