Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Senior House Democrat on Congress' Joint Economic Committee, issued the following statement on today's GDP report showing the U.S. economy surpassed forecasts with 2.8 percent growth in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024:

"Today's GDP report showed continued economic growth well ahead of expectations - more excellent news for the American people. The increased economic gains seen in the 2.8 percent growth in Q2 were driven by strong business investment and robust consumer spending. Today the U.S. economy is the strongest in the world.

"This strong GDP data follows tremendous June jobs numbers and the best monthly CPI report we've seen in years, which showed inflation cooling significantly. Under the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration and congressional Democrats our economy has recovered much faster than any other competitor nation from the pandemic, and is now exceeding pre-pandemic growth projections. After inheriting the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, President Biden has presided over an unparalleled economic recovery, with historically low unemployment and nearly 16 million jobs added, putting him in position for one of the greatest economic legacies in presidential history.

"The Biden-Harris Administration and my fellow Democrats in Congress remain laser focused on growing the middle class. It is a very different approach from congressional Republicans, who are rooting for the American economy to fail, and from the former President's plan to spend trillions on tax giveaways to the wealthy and large corporations while enacting a crazy tariff scheme that would cost families thousands of dollars and make inflation worse."