U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth sharply decelerated to an 2% annualized rate in the third quarter, down from a 6.7% rate in the April-June quarter, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists had forecast GDP to slow to a 2.8% rate. Consumer spending slowed.
Disposable income fell by 0.7%, or $29.4 billion. The savings rate also declined to 8.9% vs. 10.5% in the second quarter.
Consumer spending rose a scant 1.6% in the third quarter, well below the 12% rate in the prior three months.
Households shifted spending to services, which rose 7.9% while spending on durable goods plunged 9.2% in the third quarter… Business investment rose 1.8% in the third quarter, down sharply from a 9.2% rise in the prior period. Without gains in intellectual property, business investment would have been negative.
Final sales to domestic purchasers, a measure of domestic demand, rose 1% after an 8% gain in the second quarter… The widening in the trade deficit subtracted 1.4 percentage points from growth.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, a healthy U.S. economy and consumer confidence is essential to Apple, as America is Apple’s largest market, by far.
As we wrote back in May, “‘Tis best to get a handle on inflation, if you know how, while you still can.”
Inflation is repudiation. — Calvin Coolidge
When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt. When government does it, it sends you the bill. And when government does it for 40 years, the bill comes in two ways: higher taxes and inflation. Make no mistake about it, inflation is a tax and not by accident. — Ronald Reagan
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!