U.S. GDP accelerated at a 33.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its initial estimate for the period, outpacing expectations.
A surge in business and residential investment along with stronger consumer activity helped the economy off its COVID-19-decimated worst-ever quarter in Q2.
Coming off the worst quarter in history, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace ever in the third quarter as a nation battered by an unprecedented pandemic started to put itself back together. Markets reacted positively to the news, with Wall Street now looking at a flat to slightly positive open.
The powerful growth pace came after governments across the country shut down large swaths of activity in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19… The economy has been in a technical recession since February, as first-quarter growth declined at a 5% pace.
[Said] James McCann, senior global economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, “The reality is that the GDP numbers demonstrate that the U.S. economy did indeed rebound strongly as lockdown measures were lifted.”
Personal consumption increased 40.7%, while gross private domestic investment surged 83% amid a 59.3% increase on the residential side.
Economic activity was strong in the real estate sector, and consumer and business executive surveys showed that confidence has remained high about the future despite the virus-related setbacks.
MacDailyNews Take: Q2 2020 and Q3 2020 will forever stand out on the graph of U.S. GDP, that’s for sure!
