Teh One Who Knocks
10-27-2017, 01:08 PM
Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
https://i.imgur.com/9rsbBW2.jpg
Even two devastating hurricanes can’t hold down the resurgent U.S. economy.
While Hurricanes Harvey and Irma dampened housing construction and business investment, the economy grew briskly in the third quarter as consumer spending picked up the slack.
The nation’s gross domestic product — the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3%, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists expected 2.6% growth.
The storms no doubt curtailed the gains. Economists expected the hurricanes to shave at least a half a percentage point off growth in the July-September period. But the 3% pace still soundly exceeds the tepid 2.2% average for the eight-year-old recovery. And economists are forecasting an offsetting increase in output in the fourth quarter as construction crews repair hurricane-related damage and consumers make purchases they deferred because of the storms.
Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Houston area in late August and Irma tore through Florida in early September.
The economy seems to be on an upward trajectory nonetheless. It grew at a 3.1% rate in the second quarter, the fastest in more than two years. That offset an anemic 1.2% advance early in 2017 that many analysts chalked up to measurement problems, leaving gains for the first half of the year in line with the recovery average.
But many experts say growth could approach 3% both in the current quarter -- as a result of a hurricane-related rebound -- and in 2018 if Congress passes President Trump’s proposed tax cut package. Trump has promised 3% growth, but his tax cuts are jeopardized by Republican discord over the details. And some economists believe that with unemployment at a low 4.2%, his fiscal stimulus would stoke inflation and force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, tempering any economic benefits.
This was the first estimate of third-quarter growth. The government will publish two revised estimates in coming months.
https://i.imgur.com/9rsbBW2.jpg
Even two devastating hurricanes can’t hold down the resurgent U.S. economy.
While Hurricanes Harvey and Irma dampened housing construction and business investment, the economy grew briskly in the third quarter as consumer spending picked up the slack.
The nation’s gross domestic product — the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3%, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists expected 2.6% growth.
The storms no doubt curtailed the gains. Economists expected the hurricanes to shave at least a half a percentage point off growth in the July-September period. But the 3% pace still soundly exceeds the tepid 2.2% average for the eight-year-old recovery. And economists are forecasting an offsetting increase in output in the fourth quarter as construction crews repair hurricane-related damage and consumers make purchases they deferred because of the storms.
Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Houston area in late August and Irma tore through Florida in early September.
The economy seems to be on an upward trajectory nonetheless. It grew at a 3.1% rate in the second quarter, the fastest in more than two years. That offset an anemic 1.2% advance early in 2017 that many analysts chalked up to measurement problems, leaving gains for the first half of the year in line with the recovery average.
But many experts say growth could approach 3% both in the current quarter -- as a result of a hurricane-related rebound -- and in 2018 if Congress passes President Trump’s proposed tax cut package. Trump has promised 3% growth, but his tax cuts are jeopardized by Republican discord over the details. And some economists believe that with unemployment at a low 4.2%, his fiscal stimulus would stoke inflation and force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, tempering any economic benefits.
This was the first estimate of third-quarter growth. The government will publish two revised estimates in coming months.