U.S. economic growth slowed to 1.7% in Q2

Drop from 3.7% in first quarter

U.S. economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 1.7% in the second quarter, compared with 3.7% in the first quarter and 5 percent at the end of 2009, the Commerce Department said today.

Exports of goods and services rose 9.1%. However, imports rose 33.5%, the largest jump since 1984.

Meanwhile, initial jobless claims dropped by 16,000 to 453,000 last week, lower than what many economists had forecast, the Labor Department said today.
GDP was forecast to grow at a 1.6 percent annual pace, according to several economic forecasts.