Commerce Confirms GDP Grew at 8.2% Pace in 3Q
oosted by consumer spending, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly 20 years during the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
The final report on gross domestic product for the quarter found the U.S. economy advanced at an 8.2% annual rate. That was the same percentage as the department estimated a month ago and the strongest since an 8.4% rate of increase in the fourth quarter of 1983.
GDP, the value of all goods and services produced, grew at a revised 3.1% pace in the second quarter of 2003 and 2% in the first quarter.
However, private investment, which covers construction and business spending on plants and equipment, was revised down to a 14.8% percent rate of increase from 16.7%.
Inventories fell at a $9.1 billion annual rate in the third quarter, double the $4.5 billion rate of decrease in the second quarter.
Coupled with strong consumer spending, that may imply that companies are being forced to meet demand from current production, increasing the likelihood they will have to increase output, Reuters reported.
Adjusted for inflation, GDP totaled $10.493 trillion at an annual rate.
Commerce also said the personal consumption expenditures price index, a measure of inflation tied to spending, rose at a 1.8% annual pace, originally reported as a 1.9% increase.
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