Real gross domestic product grew for the fourth consecutive quarter, spurred by increases in private fixed investment (both residential and non-residential) and exports; the annualized rate of 2.4 percent was a decrease from the first quarter¡¦s 3.7 percent growth rate. Consumer spending increased by an annualized 1.6 percent. Growth in exports was outweighed by import growth. Measures of manufacturing output were mixed: industrial production rose an annualized 7.1 percent while the Institute for Supply Management¡¦s manufacturing index fell. (The ISM manufacturing measure stayed above the threshold of 50¡Xa sign that the sector is still growing, albeit slower than in March and April).
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