US Economy Continues To Stumble Along in Q3

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the US Department of Commerce released the Q3 GDP numbers earlier today.

The GDP posted annualized growth of 2.0% in Q3 (real gross domestic product), which is right around what most economists/analysts were forecasting.

This was a moderate increase from the 1.7% that was posted in Q2.

Here is the trend since the beginning of 2009:

Q1/2009, -4.9%
Q2/2009, -0.7%
Q3/2009, +1.6%
Q4/2009, +5.0%

Q1/2010, +3.7%
Q2/2010, +1.7%
Q3/2010, +2.0%

As you can see, the "recovery" has petered out over the last few quarters, which has led the Federal Reserve to consider ways to further jumpstart the economy.

This GDP report was really a mixed bag - the rise in personal consumption expenditures was encouraging, but this was tempered by a steep drop-off in residential investment and continued strong import growth vs export growth.

Source: Davemanuel.com - Historical GDP Numbers

Filed under: General Knowledge