by Greg Piper
The Chicken Littles of the American economy have egg on their faces following the Commerce Department’s report Tuesday showing annual growth of 4.3% in the third quarter from July through September, decisively beating analysts’ expectations of 3% growth and improving on the second quarter’s 3.8%, the Associated Press reported.
It’s the most rapid expansion of the economy in two years, driven by consumer and government spending and exports, suggesting that President Trump’s much-ballyhooed economic policies, especially tariffs, are not hampering the economy on the whole.
Exports shot up 8.8% while imports fell 4.7%, and consumer spending rose 3.5%, up from 2.5% in the second quarter. Inflation also rose, however, up 2.8% from 2.1% in the personal consumption expenditures index favored by the Federal Reserve, but the increase was less drastic when excluding “volatile food and energy prices,” according to the AP.
Government consumption and investment grew 2.2% after declining 0.1% in the second quarter, led by state and local increased expenditures and federal defense spending.
The decline in private business investment slowed to a trickle, down just 0.3% compared to the 13.8% plunge in the second quarter.
The report’s release was delayed by the government shutdown.
In response to the economic news, President Donald Trump said the third-quarter GDP growth exceeded expectations.
“The SUCCESS is due to Good Government, and TARIFFS. Consumer spending is STRONG, Net Exports are WAY UP, Imports and Trade Deficits are WAY DOWN, and there is NO INFLATION! Because of my Tax Bill (THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL) and TARIFFS, INVESTMENT IS SETTING RECORDS. The Trump Economic Golden Age is FULL steam ahead — “You haven’t seen anything yet!” Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he stated.
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Greg Piper is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
