Growth Undaunted by Record Energy Prices: U.S. Economy Preview

The U.S. economy skipped hardly a beat in the second quarter as consumers bought more cars and clothing even while paying record gasoline prices, a report this week may show.

Gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S., probably rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate from April through June, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The projected second- quarter growth rate compares with an average quarterly gain of 3.2 percent over the past two decades and a 3.8 percent rate in the first three months of the year.