Economic growth south of the border cooled off a bit in the last complete quarter.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. government said gross domestic product decelerated a bit to a 3.5% annual pace in the third quarter, down from torrid 4.2% pace in the prior three months. GDP is the official measuring stick for the U.S. economy. The gain was very close to Wall Street estimates.
Economists had GDP would rise at a 3.4% rate. Growth in the last two quarters is the fastest six months of growth in four years. The American economy looks like it will expand above a 3% rate in 2018. That hasn’t happened since 2005. At the same time, inflation cooled in the third quarter.
Consumer spending rose 4% in the third quarter, even stronger than the three months before, offset by a slowdown in business and residential investment. Household investment has fallen for three straight quarters.
Inflation as measured by the Personal Consumption and Expenditure price index, meanwhile, rose at a 1.6% annual rate in the third quarter, down from a 2% rate in the prior quarter. The core PCE price index rose at a 1.6% annual rate, down from a 2.1% rate in the second quarter.
