Data: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios
The Atlanta Fed raised its GDPNow forecast to 2.2% for the third quarter — higher than many economists are predicting, but well below enough to bring 2019's growth to the 3%-4% President Trump has sought.
Why it matters: The bump came after U.S. retail sales surged above expectations in July and sales at retailers including Amazon and Best Buy posted their biggest increase in 4 months. A strong earnings report from Walmart also helped drive optimism that American consumers are still shopping and perhaps are confident enough to carry the economy through trade war tensions.
Go deeper: Store closures don't mean retail is dead
