- The second estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product showed the US economy grew at a 3.3% annualized rate.
- This was the strongest growth since Q3 2014.
- Wednesday’s reading was above the 3% target stated by President Donald Trump.
A second estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product showed the US economy grew at a 3.3% annualized rate, the strongest since Q3 2014. Revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and private inventory investment provided a boost, the Commerce Department said.
Wednesday’s reading was above the 3.2% growth that Wall Street economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting and an improvement from October’s advanced reading of 3%.
The US economy has registered growth of at least 3%, President Donald Trump’s stated target, in each of the last two quarters. Following just 1.2% GDP growth in the first quarter, the economy would need to continue growing at or near this pace to hit Trump’s mark on an annual basis for this year.
Wednesday's estimate will be revised one more time before the end of the year.
The data is likely going to be good enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise rates at its December meeting. Ahead of the report, there was a 95.9% chance a rate hike will happen at the December meeting, according to Bloomberg's world interest rate probability data.
"After a good third-quarter, the survey and early monthly evidence point to another decent gain in GDP in the fourth quarter of between 2.5% and 3.0% annualised," Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.
Following the data, US Treasury yields are climbing, with the 10-year yield up 4 basis points near 2.37%. The US dollar is also ticking higher, up 0.12% at 93.38 versus a basket of its peers.