U.S. economic activities in the second quarter of 2015 rebounded strongly from the contraction in the first quarter. The U.S. real GDP growth rate in the second quarter reached 3.7 percent-the strongest growth since the third quarter of last year, but was still lower than the second quarter last year. In the third quarter, overall U.S. economic activities continued to improve, but the growth rate is expected to be lower than the previous quarter.
The sluggish price of oil dragged private investment and related industry activities down to a new trough. The stock market started to contract, mainly due to the global economic slowdown, but also due to the likelihood of an interest rate increase in the fall. The strong U.S. dollar hurt exports, thus the manufacturing purchasing manager index started to decline, indicating manufacturing industry managers have a pessimistic perspective.
However, the U.S. automotive industry enjoyed the best summer sales in a decade. Seasonally adjusted annual sales figures were at 17.7 million units in July and August, and 18.2 for September, the highest levels since 2005. New Housing starts also rebounded to 1.2 million units in June and July, the highest level seen since 2007. U.S. employment also posted strong growth this year.
For the full CAR’s U.S. Automotive Outlook Newsletter, click here.
