American marketeers, take a bow:

The U.S. economy grew solidly at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the government reported on Friday, just slightly below the first quarter's pace and with room to grow as stocks of unsold goods fell for the first time in two years. ...The first snapshot of second-quarter GDP matched Wall Street economists' expectations. The figure will be revised twice in coming months as more data on the economy's performance arrive.

"Room to grow" is very pertinent, each of the two preceding quarters — fourth and first — having grown in subsequent analysis by a fifth. Should that be determined of Second Quarter 2005, we will have ourselves 4 percent expansion — above average and above expectations.