The recovery lost momentum in the second quarter as growth slowed to a 2.4 percent pace, its most sluggish showing in nearly a year and too weak to drive down unemployment.
    Weaker spending by consumers, less growth coming from companies restocking shrunken stockpiles and a bigger drag from the nation’s trade deficits were the main factors behind the second quarter’s slowdown.
    The Commerce Department’s report released Friday shows the economy grew at a 3.7 percent pace in the first three months of this year. That was much better than the 2.7 percent pace estimated just a month ago. Even so, the recovery has been losing power now for two straight quarters, raising concerns about whether it will stall.
   
    (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)