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The Australian economy is going backwards as Sydney remains locked down, prompting questions as to whether there will be an official recession but in the United States the economy is booming.

Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood says Australia is still suffering from lockdowns and border closures, America has managed to keep its economy open and has high vaccination rates.

The quarterly figures for June show the US economy annually is growing at 6.5 per cent, up 0.2 per cent from the last quarter’s growth.

These are strong economic figures as normal annual growth usually peaks at three per cent with an average of two per cent growth.

The Delta strain, however, is impacting the economy in America as retailers still have parts of their businesses closed, staff who cannot work, and cities are discussing closure.

The US economy is likely to slow as a result of the variant but is not expected to be as hard hit as Australia.