Stagflation? What Stagflation? Recession Fears? To The Right — Again — GDP Growth Fastest Pace In Two Years — October 23, 2023

Locator: 45799ECON. 

Source: 4.7% estimate, 3Q23 GDP.

Link here.

Gross domestic product advanced at a 4.3% annualized pace in July-September, 2023. Estimate. To be reported this week.

Such growth illustrates that the US remains the global economic powerhouse as Europe stagnates and Asia contends with a struggling China. 

Personal consumption, the primary engine of the US economy, is projected to advance at a 4% rate. Resilient demand is testing the policy skills of Fed officials after nearly two years of interest-rate hikes. While inflation is well off its peak, price pressures are still running almost twice as fast as their goal. 

Thursday’s GDP report won’t be enough to nudge the Fed toward a November rate increase, but sustained spending momentum in the fourth quarter would likely raise the prospects for additional tightening around the turn of the year.

Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year.