Roundup: Community Coffee CEO / Economic growth / Unemployment claims 

ICYMI: Baton Rouge-based Community Coffee on Wednesday announced that CEO David Belanger is planning to retire by late June of next year. Belanger has been CEO since 2012 and first joined the company as director of operations in 1998. The company’s board of directors has initiated a search process to identify Belanger’s successor. See the announcement. 

Rise in GDP: The U.S. economy surprisingly accelerated to a 2.4% annual growth rate from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of steadily higher interest rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s 16-month-long fight to bring down inflation. The gross domestic product—the economy’s total output of goods and services—picked up from the 2% growth rate in the January-March quarter. See the report.  

Lowest in months: The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits slid last week to its lowest level in five months, further evidence that the U.S. labor market continues to defy the Federal Reserve’s attempts to cool it off. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to 221,000 for the week ending July 22, from 228,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported this morning. Read more.