The U.S. economy grew even faster than expected in the third quarter, buoyed by a strong consumer in spite of higher interest rates, ongoing inflation pressures and a variety of other domestic and global headwinds.
Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a 4.9% annualized pace in the July-through-September period, up from an unrevised 2.1% pace in the second quarter. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a 4.7% acceleration.
The sharp increase came due to contributions from consumer spending, increased inventories, exports, residential investment and government spending.
Consumer spending, as measured by personal consumption expenditures, increased 4% for the quarter after rising just 0.8% in Q2. Gross private domestic investment surged 8.4% and government spending and investment jumped 4.6%.
Spending at the consumer level split fairly evenly between goods and services, with the two measures up 4.8% and 3.6% respectively.
This is breaking news. Please check back here for updates.