The US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, according to a long-delayed government report released Thursday.
Gross domestic product — a broad measure of economic activity — jumped by 4.3 percent from July through September, the Commerce Department said.
That’s a major acceleration from the prior quarter’s 3.8 percent growth rate, and blows by expert predictions of 3.2 percent.
Thursday’s backwards-looking report is the strongest reading in two years.
‘For the second straight quarter, US GDP came in well ahead of economists’ expectations, reaffirming the resilience of the consumer and the economy,’ Bret Kenwell, a US investment analyst at eToro, told the Daily Mail.
‘While worries surrounding the jobs market, tariffs, and inflation continue to swirl, the economy continues to defy its doubters by chugging higher.’
Overall, today’s reading shows the economy is growing at a 2.5 percent yearly rate in President Donald Trump’s first year in the White House, around the same as former President Joe Biden’s 2.4 percent annual rate.
The data was closely watched on Wall Street, in part because it offers the clearest snapshot yet of the economy’s underlying momentum. The previous two GDP reports were distorted by the effects of Trump’s trade policies.
A long-delayed report on the US economy says Americans are in great shape. Experts aren’t buying it
In the first quarter, GDP fell 0.6 percent, largely because businesses rushed to import foreign goods ahead of expected tariff hikes, inflating trade deficits and dragging down growth.
The second quarter, by contrast, was artificially boosted by a sharp drop in imports, which temporarily lifted GDP.
The third quarter is the first period in which those trade effects appear to have largely stabilized, giving economists a cleaner read on how much Americans and US businesses are actually spending amid the trade wars.
Healthcare and automotive spending drove much of the summer and fall growth.
Automakers, in particular, posted strong September sales, fueled by a surge in electric vehicle purchases as buyers moved quickly to secure the federal $7,500 EV tax credit before it expired.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to come.
