U.S. Economy Grew at Faster Pace as Consumer Spending Picked Up

[dkf]

Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in a year as gains in consumer spending and business investment helped support a recovery on the brink of faltering.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.5 percent annual rate, matching the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and up from a 1.3 percent gain in the prior quarter, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Household purchases, the biggest part of the economy, increased at a more-than-projected 2.4 percent pace.

Americans last quarter cut savings to boost purchases as incomes dropped by the most in two years, calling into question the sustainability of the acceleration in sales. With the lack of jobs holding back wages, the Obama administration and Federal Reserve policy makers have proposed additional measures aimed at stimulating growth and hiring.

“The economy is recovering, but not with the usual vigor,” Carl Riccadonna, senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, said before the report. “There are lingering impairments in the economy like housing issues and consumer deleveraging.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-27/u-s-economy-grew-at-faster-pace-as-consumer-spending-picked-up.html

[mactime]

1. "Americans last quarter cut savings to boost purchases"

While this is good news, this "Americans last quarter cut savings to boost purchases" makes me nervous. Americans have had a unhealthy level of savings for a long time and only recently started saving again. Can the US economy only survive if people spend more than they actually earn?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. “There are lingering impairments in the economy...”

... like housing issues and consumer deleveraging like Boner and McConnell and their repuKKKlican ilk". ***FIXED***

[Roland99]

3. Real wages are down. Consumer confidence is in the sewer. But consumer spending shot up??

:crazy:



Esp. considering that consumers were spending down debt (the deleveraging), that's considered spending??


And economists wonder why inventory levels are at their highest since charting started in the early 1990s!!

[Ghost Dog]

5. Price inflation on essential items?

(Just askin').

[Roland99]

7. that's one common thought

[Donnachaidh]

6. personally, I got a big old whiff of ass stat reading this piece

yeah -- wait a week and the real numbers will be quietly released. :shrug:

[dkf]

10. Back to school?

[Safetykitten]

11. Healthcare costs. That's spending...but let's not talk about that.

[Thav]

4. Wait, consumer spending helped expand the economy?

I thought the ONLY things that expanded the economy were tax-cuts on insanely wealthy people and corporations, along with deregulation.

How is it possible that consumer spending has anything to do with the economy?

:sarcasm:

[quakerboy]

8. well, OWS needed tents

and supplies, so had to spend some money.

the 99% are the job creators. and the sooner that penetrates the conscience of everyone, the better this country will end up.

[MrTriumph]

9. A more accurate headline would be: Dead Economy Shows Faint Pulse.

[defendandprotect]

12. +1000%

[DCBob]

13. perhaps but that even sounds good given what we have been through.

Any movement up is positive news.. and considering that the Euros may be moving towards a solution to their economic mess... we may be actually on the road to a real recovery. The next few months will tell.