Trump says 'very good' GDP numbers are coming
- President Donald Trump said "very good" GDP numbers will be announced soon.
- The president credits his push to slash regulations.
- It was unclear whether Trump was speaking generally or referring to specific data he has seen.
President Donald Trump hinted Thursday that investors may like what they see from coming U.S. gross domestic product data.
At a White House executive order signing, he said "very good" GDP numbers will be announced in the "very near future." He attributed it to his push to slash regulations on businesses.
"We have regulations on top of regulations and in history nobody has gotten rid of so many regulations as the Trump administration," Trump said before he signed an order on apprenticeship. "And that's one of the reasons that you see the jobs and the companies all kicking in so strongly. I think some very good numbers are going to be announced, by the way, in the very near future as to GDP."
It was unclear whether Trump was speaking generally or referring to specific data he has seen. The third reading of the first-quarter GDP data will be released on Thursday, June 29.
That number came in originally at a measly 0.7 percent growth rate, but then was revised up to a 1.2 percent annual rate last month. He could be referring to that data getting revised again, but it's more likely Trump is looking ahead to the second-quarter GDP report, which comes out on July 28.
Trump has promised to slash tax rates for individuals and companies and trim regulations on businesses to boost economic growth. Republicans have not yet proposed a joint tax bill in Congress, and many of the regulatory moves by the Trump administration have been largely symbolic.
The president has repeatedly proclaimed that jobs are "pouring in" to the U.S. due to his policies. In May, the U.S. created 138,000 nonfarm payrolls, lower than an expected 185,000, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 percent.
Recent economic data have been lackluster. On Wednesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index — a key measure of inflation — fell 0.1 percent last month. Economists polled by Reuters expected a rise of 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.3 percent in May, marking the largest one-month decline since January of last year. The sudden drop confounded economists, which had forecast a 0.1 percent gain.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the president's remarks.
— CNBC's Fred Imbert and John Melloy contributed to this report