WASHINGTON - The economy grew at a lively 4.3 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in more than a year. The performance offered fresh testimony that the country's overall economic health managed to improve despite the destructive force of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The new snapshot of economic activity, released by the
Commerce Department on Wednesday, showed the growth at an even faster pace than the 3.8 percent annual rate first reported for the July-to-September quarter a month ago.
The upgraded performance reflects more brisk spending by consumers and businesses as well as more robust investment on residential projects than initial estimates revealed.
"I've got some good economic news for our nation,"
President Bush said at a fund-raiser benefiting the Senate candidacy of Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. "America's workers and businesses have overcome the challenges of two hurricanes and high energy prices."
"In anybody's book this is an outstanding performance for the economy," agreed Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.
On Wall Street, the positive report gave stocks a lift. The Dow Jones industrials gained 28 points and the Nasdaq was up 7 in morning trading.
The third-quarter's showing marked a sizable pickup from the 3.3 percent increase in gross domestic product registered in the second quarter of this year.
GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the nation's economic standing.
The 4.3 percent growth rate matched the performance posted in the first quarter of 2004. The last time economic activity was higher was in the third quarter of 2003, when the GDP soared at a blistering 7.2 percent pace.
The upwardly revised reading for GDP in the third quarter also exceeded the expectations of business analysts. Before the report was released, they were forecasting the economy to clock in at a 4 percent pace.
Consumers and businesses did their part to keep the economy rolling — even as they coped with elevated energy prices during the third quarter.
The lifeblood of the economy, consumer spending, grew at a sprightly 4.2 percent pace in the third quarter, stronger than the 3.9 percent growth rate previously estimated. The new figure marked the fastest pace in consumer spending since the final quarter of 2004.
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