Posted on 10/29/20
| News Source: Yahoo Finance
U.S. economic activity surged at a record clip for the July through September period, as an initial easing of virus-related lockdowns allowed business activity to return after a historic slump.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its advance print on third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. Here were the main metrics from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
3Q GDP, annualized quarter-over-quarter: 33.1% vs. 32.0% expected, -31.4% in the second quarter
3Q Personal Consumption: 40.7% vs. 38.9% expected, -33.2% in the second quarter
3Q GDP Price Index: 3.6% vs. 2.9% expected, -1.8% in the second quarter
3Q Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, quarter-over-quarter: 3.5% vs. 4.0% expected, -0.8% in the second quarter
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Prior to the pandemic period, the largest-ever quarterly rise in GDP had been a 16.7% annualized increase in 1950. The rise in third quarter 2020 economic activity was nearly twice that, with the record jump following the record 31.4% slide earlier this year.
The advance came primarily from strength in personal consumption, which comprises about two-thirds of domestic economic activity. Personal consumption rose a better than expected 40.7% in the third quarter after dropping 33.2% in the second, as a jump in goods spending offset ongoing weakness in services. Read more at Yahoo Finance