WASHINGTON—U.S. economic growth accelerated last quarter, easing fears of a near-term slowdown but doing little to change the trajectory of a long but weak expansion.
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced across the economy, expanded at an inflation- and seasonally adjusted 2.9% annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. That was stronger growth than the second quarter’s pace of 1.4%. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected growth at a 2.5% pace for the July-to-September period.
Last quarter’s growth rate was the fastest recorded in two years.
The third-quarter acceleration largely reflected increased exports and a buildup of inventories, while consumer spending increased at a slower rate.
The latest data “do not point towards a new growth path but rather a strong rebound following one year of soggy growth,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at consulting firm RSM US.
Friday’s data also gave voters their last comprehensive look at the economy’s health before the November election.
The improvement could give Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton more latitude to position herself as the candidate to continue Obama administration policies that have led to a long expansion. Still, the most recent gain comes in the weakest expansion in recent memory, a point Republican candidate Donald Trump makes frequently.
Since the recession ended in mid-2009 the economy has grown at roughly a 2% annual rate, making the current expansion the weakest on records back to 1949.