US weakness is likely to be temporary

Data released late last week showed that the US economy expanded at a very weak annualised rate of 0.5% in quarter one this year, following the sluggish growth of 1.4% recorded in the final quarter of 2015. 

Thus, we have had two consecutive quarters of weak growth in the US.

This raises the question about whether the expansion in the US economy, which is now one of the longest on record, may be coming to an end.