Israeli Growth Unexpectedly Accelerates to 4.7%

Israeli economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to an annualized 4.7 percent in the second quarter, its fastest pace in more than two years, as exports and consumer spending increased.

The expansion rate rose from a revised 3.6 percent in the first quarter, the Jerusalem-based Central Bureau of Statistics said today on its website. The median forecast of six economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 2.9 percent. The statistics bureau reported on July 18 that the economy grew a preliminary 3.4 percent in the first three months.