WASHINGTON: The United States posted strong economic growth in the third quarter, but the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge also accelerated, the Commerce Department said on Thursday (Oct 29), in a mixed economic bag for US President Donald Trump ahead of key midterm polls next week.
Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.4 per cent in the third quarter, the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in a statement, beating market expectations.
“The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the third quarter were increases in investment, consumer spending, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in exports,” the BEA said in a statement.
The US Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for inflation – the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index – rose by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in September, an increase from the previous month.
Trump’s handling of the economy is a key issue for voters heading into midterm elections on Tuesday, where Democrats are seeking to wrest control of both houses of Congress from the president’s Republican Party.
The US-Israel war on Iran has sent global energy prices skyrocketing due to Tehran’s retaliatory action, with US consumers paying an average of 42 per cent more at the pump for regular gasoline, according to data from the AAA motor club.
The president’s wide-ranging tariff policies have also upended global trade and fuelled inflation.