The federal Labor Department is now reporting an estimate for annualized GDP growth in the third quarter of this year of a remarkable 5.2 percent, revising upwards their earlier calculation of the growth seen in that quarter, which ended with September. The latest reported level of economic growth is among the highest in years.
From the first reporting of GDP growth in the last quarter to the latest update, Labor Department authorities revised downwards their calculations of the rate of consumer spending, meaning they are now reporting a lower level. However, any updates towards a lower rate of growth in these measurements of the size of the economy were offset by “upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, residential investment, private inventory investment, and federal government spending,” according to the department’s release. That means they’re now reporting more growth in those categories.
As that description suggests, GDP is generally measured under these metrics in orientation to the purchase/spending point, meaning rates of expenditure fuel numbers on the size of the national economy. On the spending front, inflation continues its overall generally downward slope in the U.S., having reached a month-to-month rate of, well, zero last month, meaning there was no overall, documented increase in prices compared to the prior month. (Individualized categories may have shown up differently, and there was still an overall increase comparing the prior year.) One longtime area of expected focus is gas prices, and those costs are also dropping, lower at present than the average costs a week, month, and year prior.
The inflation numbers come from the Labor Department, while the gas price reports, paired to a gallon of regular fuel, originate with AAA. Capping it all off, there’s been new polling recently showing another lead nationally for Joe Biden in a 2024 match-up with ex-President Donald Trump from sources including Morning Consult.
