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GDP Growth Beats Economists' Expectations for Third Quarter

By A. J. Sciascia October 30, 2019 at 9:25am

Government officials revealed encouraging economic data Wednesday, reporting unexpected third-quarter growth in U.S. gross domestic product.

According to the Department of Commerce, an “‘advanced estimate” released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis found the average recorded growth in the U.S. economy was approximately 1.9 percent for the quarter.

This estimate signifies a minor decrease from the previous quarter, which experienced a 2.0 percent annualized growth rate.

But the results are “better-than-expected,” CNBC reported, with the market surging above estimates from economists who said U.S. real GDP would not exceed 1.6 percent in the third quarter when polled by Dow Jones in recent weeks.

JUST IN: U.S. GDP expanded at a 1.9% annualized rate, topping estimates of 1.6% growth https://t.co/MUcIQ1OctL pic.twitter.com/vH4B9WEjmS

— Bloomberg (@business) October 30, 2019

Greatly contributing to this growth were substantial consumer spending and no shortage of government expenditures at the federal, state and local level over the past three months.

According to CNBC, consumer spending remained resilient with 2.9 percent growth in the third quarter — a marked drop in growth from the astounding, and in large part unsustainable, 4.6 percent growth reported in the second quarter.

This “deceleration” was also seen in the area of government expenditures, which the Commerce Department reported fell far less dramatically between quarters.

While consumers continue to feel the benefits of the Trump economy, it seems those benefits are slowing a bit faster for businesses and large corporations, who witnessed a 1.5 percent regression in gross private domestic investment.

That drop follows a more substantial 6.3 percent drop the previous quarter.

And slowing of GDP growth over the past two quarters has led to a substantial uptick in sensational forecasting of a looming economic collapse — particularly among left-wing establishment media outlets.

Still, members of the Trump administration celebrated the economic numbers, with President Donald Trump himself seeming to respond to the news Wednesday morning on Twitter, saying simply, “The Greatest Economy in American History!”

The Greatest Economy in American History!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2019

According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration’s optimistic take on the economy might just be the most logical response as the bulk of recent economic damages seem to have been dealt by market uncertainty pertaining to the ongoing trade war with China.

And this uncertainty, the outlet reports, might be offset a while longer should continued spending and high confidence in a rock-solid labor market continue to come from the American consumer.

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“The most important question lingering over the growth outlook for the next few quarters is whether consumers will be able to adequately shoulder the burden, as business investment and exports languish in response to economic uncertainty, trade tensions and dollar strength,” Bloomberg economists Carl Riccadonna, Yelena Shulyatyeva and Eliza Winger said.

“As of the third quarter, consumers were holding up adequately; this is not surprising to Bloomberg Economics, given the resilience of consumer attitudes and relative health of the labor market,” they said.

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