US economic growth slows to 1.5 percent in the second quarter

US gross domestic product grew by 1.5 percent between April and June 2026, a slowdown from the 2.1 percent expansion recorded in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis report released on Thursday 30 July 2026. A widening trade deficit and tensions between the United States and Iran, which weighed on global fuel prices, were cited among the factors behind the slowdown.

Consumer spending rose 3.2 percent in the quarter, attributed both to tax refunds and to higher petrol prices. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of a gallon of petrol (3.78 litres) stands at $4.09, up from $3.84 a month earlier and against $2.98 on 28 February 2026, the day the United States and Israel first struck Iran.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure price index, one of the Federal Reserve's key inflation gauges, rose 3.7 percent year on year in June 2026 after a 4.1 percent increase in May. Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera that the economy continues to rely on technology investment and that data centres keep driving investment and growth while raising questions about sustainability. The US growth and inflation path reaches Iran's gold and currency markets through the dollar index and the global gold price.