Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo was left stunned on Thursday when colleague Cheryl Casone reported the Commerce Department's advance second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, revealing a strong and surprising 2.4 percent growth rate.
The figure far surpassed the 1.8% estimate for the quarter, dispelling recession concerns and indicating a robust economy.
Casone began her report with the impressive figure, prompting Bartiromo's astonished response of "Wow." The advanced read for the second-quarter GDP estimate had initially been projected at 1.8 percent, but the actual figure exceeded expectations, signaling a resilient economy.
You can hear what Casone said in the video below.
Casone said:
“This is the first read, the advanced read for second-quarter GDP estimate was only for 1.8 percent. Talk about a strong economy. There goes that recession talk, right?”
"And what’s interesting here is the expectation was we’re going to have a weaker Q2. This first read, that we had in Q1 remember, we had a 2 percent rate in Q1 for this year."
"We were thinking we’re going to have a slowdown. It’s the opposite — 2.4%. And, you know, even the range, this is in the high end of the range that economists were looking for. So that’s pretty darn interesting."
"Really. Q4 was 2.6 percent. So the economy is still strong. Real interesting here."
Many noted that Republicans would not be happy with this acknowledgment of reality.
Following the surprising report, White House deputy communications director Herbie Ziskend shared the clip on social media, emphasizing Casone's praise and the departure from Fox's usual criticism of President Joe Biden's economic handling.
The strong GDP report has left economists and experts alike intrigued and hopeful about the economy's trajectory.
While uncertainties remain, the data signals a positive direction for economic growth and may reshape the conversation surrounding economic policies and prospects for the future.
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