The US Dollar has fallen against the Euro and Japanese Yen after today’s US data was marginally weaker than expected.
The US economy expanded a sluggish pace in the fourth quarter of 2012 despite the US government pushing up its previous forecast. According to the Commerce Department Gross domestic product in the world’s largest economy expanded at a 0.4% annual rate, just below the 0.5% forecast mad by economists.
The data meant that the USA’s growth rate was at its slowest pace since the first quarter of 2011 and far off the speed needed to increase the drop in unemployment. The figure was however higher than the 0.15 increase predicted by the government.
The US economy has been hit by a slowdown in inventory accumulation and a sharp drop in military spending caused by the sequestration budget cuts. In comparison consumer spending was robust but that too disappointed as it only expanded at an annual rate of 1.8%, a slower pace than the government had estimated. Thursday’s report is the US government’s third estimate of growth for the final three months of 2012. In the first estimate, the government shocked economists by saying the economy shrank at a 0.1% annual rate.
There were some positives to take from today’s data. Business investment increased at a rate of 13.2%, a larger gain than initially estimated. The growth is thought to have been caused by businesses spending more on construction. Imports fell by 4.2% helping the country’s trade deficit. It was a larger decline than the one seen in the third quarter of 2012. The data also showed that, overall, exports fell less than the government had previously thought. Exports have been hampered by a recession in Europe and storm-related port disruptions.
Current US Dollar Exchange Rates
The US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate is trading at 0.7796
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate is trading at 0.6597
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) exchange rate is trading at 1.0166
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar (USD/AUD) exchange rate is trading at 0.9607
The US Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) exchange rate is trading at 1.1963
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate is trading at 94.1457
These exchange rates were correct as of 14:35 pm GMT
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