US gross domestic product expanded at a 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said in its third GDP estimate. That was slightly down from the 3.3% rate reported earlier.
Analysts had expected the growth estimate to stay unrevised. In April-June, GDP increased by 3.1%.
Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the US economy, rose by an annualized 2.2% last quarter, compared to a 2.3% rise previously reported. Experts anticipated the index to be unrevised. In the second quarter, consumer spending grew by 3.3%.
Consumer spending accounts for approximately 70% of all US economic growth. Growth in business investment in equipment was raised to a 10.8% pace, the fastest in three years, from the previously reported 10.4% rate. Investment in intellectual property products increased by 5.2%, compared with an increase by 5.8% reported earlier.
Net exports added 0.36% to growth, revised down from 0.43%. Corporate profits before taxes increased by 5.3% year-on-year, not by 5.4%.
The core PCE index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, climbed by 1.3% in the third quarter, down from a 1.4% increase previously reported.
However, the data still indicates a significant increase in economic growth and a continuing momentum in the current quarter. The new tax reform may help accelerate growth in 2018, but economists believe the goal of a sustainable annual growth of 3% remains difficult to be reached.
