The first quarter real gross domestic product increased by two percent. That’s far better than the 1.4 percent expected by industry analysts. In a separate report, the Labor Department said the initial jobless claims for the week ending June 24 was 239,000. That’s well below the 264,000 that were expected. At the same time, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell spoke at event in Spain, saying most of the board favors two or more interest rate increases by the end the year.
