US ECONOMY GREW AT ROBUST 4.2% RATE IN Q2

The U.S. economy grew at a strong annual rate of 4.2 percent during the second quarter, the best performance in nearly four years. But economists believe growth has slowed in the third quarter, partly due to a drag from trade battles. The performance of the gross domestic product, the country’s total output of goods and services, was unchanged from a Department of Commerce estimate last month, the government reported. Strong GDP performance has been cited by President Donald Trump as evidence his economic policies are succeeding.