Just when one thinks the U.S. economy has slowed to a crawl, up pops the unexpected: growth.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly accelerated in Q3 to an annualized growth rate of 3.9% the U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday. The report took most economists and Wall Street analysts by surprise: most had expected a 3.1%-3.4% Q3 annualized growth rate.
Further, the Q3 3.9% rate was the fastest growth rate since Q1 2006, when the economy grew at a 4.8% annualized rate. The economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8% in Q2.
In addition, over the past 12 months the economy has grown at a 2.6% rate - - still below trend, but hardly anemic growth.
Surprising Q3 GDP Stat
"There's no way to slice it, other than to say it's a surprise," economist H. David Wang said in an interview with bloggingstocks.com. "Here the Fed [U.S. Federal Reserve] starts the second day of its interest rate meeting thinking the economy has slowed substantially, then they receive the Q3 data, which says it hasn't."
The U.S. economy unexpectedly accelerated in Q3 to an annualized growth rate of 3.9% the U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday. The report took most economists and Wall Street analysts by surprise: most had expected a 3.1%-3.4% Q3 annualized growth rate.
Further, the Q3 3.9% rate was the fastest growth rate since Q1 2006, when the economy grew at a 4.8% annualized rate. The economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8% in Q2.
In addition, over the past 12 months the economy has grown at a 2.6% rate - - still below trend, but hardly anemic growth.
Surprising Q3 GDP Stat
"There's no way to slice it, other than to say it's a surprise," economist H. David Wang said in an interview with bloggingstocks.com. "Here the Fed [U.S. Federal Reserve] starts the second day of its interest rate meeting thinking the economy has slowed substantially, then they receive the Q3 data, which says it hasn't."
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