Stephen Gandel & Brian Chappatta, Columnists

GDP Isn’t Growing Fast Enough for Markets

Stock and bond investors have been expecting more.

Eternal optimists.

Photographer: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

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President Donald Trump promised on Thursday that the second-quarter gross domestic product number would be unthinkable. The number was, instead, what everyone expected, and that could pose a problem.

The Commerce Department reported on Friday morning that second-quarter GDP rose an annualized 4.1 percent, just slightly less than forecasts for 4.2 percent. The biggest issue is that the number indicates that the economy is falling far short of what both stock and bond investors have come to expect.