Consumers Help Drive U.S. Economy to 3.2% Growth Rate

National output grew at a rate of 3.2% in the first quarter, but people are afraid that we are not growing fast enough to fix what happened with the recession. Consumer spending contributes to about 70% of the economy and is the driving factor in recovering from a recession. Throughout the last three months of 2009 consumer spending grew at a rate of 1.6%, but in the first quarter this year it grew by 3.6%. Chief United States economist at IHS Global Insight Nigel Gault said "we haven’t had consumer spending growth this strong in three years,” which is a good sign, aside from the fact that economist are worried that the dampened job market will keep consumers from spending more than necessary. The unemployment rate as of now is 9.7%, and there is a fear that if people do not start spending more, the unemployment rate will continue to be high over the next year and possibly the next few years.