The American economy extended a streak of resilience and expanded at an annual rate of 2 percent in the first three months of the year, even as global energy prices surged in the first weeks of war with Iran.
The data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday offered the first official snapshot of how the U.S. economy is broadly faring since the oil shock from war with Iran began to work its way through prices and business decisions. The conflict started in the last of the three months covered in the data released on Thursday. The report showed generally positive investment, consumer spending and government expenditures before the war and in its first weeks.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices soaring by more than 60 percent. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, jumped up to $120 a barrel this week from a prewar level of around $70 a barrel in February. Contracts for July delivery of crude oil have also topped $100 barrel, heightening fears of a protracted disruption and shortages for petroleum-based products.
Despite negative consumer sentiment near historical lows and weak hiring appetite among employers, data on consumption, which constitutes roughly 70 percent of gross domestic product, has held up, especially among those households in the top third of income.
Personal consumption grew by 1.6 percent, slightly better than expected.
Talmon Joseph Smith is a Times economics reporter, based in New York.
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