[naviga:h3]U.S. economy posts solid rebound[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — After a harsh winter, the U.S. economy posted a solid rebound in the April-June quarter, led by a surge in consumer spending and a recovery in foreign trade.

The Commerce Department said today that the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, expanded at a 2.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter. Moreover, the economy didn’t actually contract in the first quarter. The government now says GDP grew 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year instead of shrinking at a 0.2 percent pace.

The healthy spring rebound reflected a big jump in consumer spending and a swing in trade from a significant drag to a small positive for growth.

Economists are looking for growth to strengthen more in the second half of this year to around 3 percent as consumer spending is bolstered by sizable employment gains.

On Wednesday, the Fed ended its latest policy meeting by keeping a key rate at a record low near zero, where it’s remained since 2008.

[naviga:h3]Murder suspect, 15, to appear in court[/naviga:h3]

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A 15-year-old boy charged with murder, kidnapping and rape in the death of an 8-year-old girl in an artists’ complex in a California beach town is scheduled to be arraigned today in a Santa Cruz court.

Police say Adrian Jerry Gonzalez lured Madyson Middleton into his family’s apartment from a courtyard where she had been riding her scooter over the weekend. Once inside, he tied her up, sexually assaulted and killed her, according a charging document.

Gonzalez remains in custody at the Santa Cruz County juvenile detention center, where he has been held since the girl’s body was found in a recycling bin Monday evening.

[naviga:h3]Search continues for missing teens[/naviga:h3]

TEQUESTA, Fla. — Families hoped for a miracle even as science nagged that one was improbable and rescue crews went into a seventh day of searches today for two teens missing at sea.

Though it seemed unlikely a medley of agencies would continue their hunts much longer, the Coast Guard, which is leading the effort, insisted it remained an “active and open” case now focused off the South Carolina coastline.

“We’re still searching,” Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said Wednesday evening, with no immediate end in sight.

Doss called the decision on how long to continue looking for the 14-year-old fishermen, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, a mix of “art and science,” that juggles knowledge of how long people can survive adrift with unknowns on whether the boys had flotation devices and drinking water.