US Q3 economic growth revised up to 3.2%

According to data from the US Commerce Department, US economic growth in Q3 of 2016 was revised up to 3.2% from the previously estimated growth rate of 2.9% and exceeded the economists’ forecasts which called for a revision of up to 3% in a poll by Reuters. This was the country’s strongest growth since Q3 of 2014 and was thought to be driven by strong consumer spending as well as the rise in soybean exports.

Data showed consumer spending expanded 2.8% on a yearly basis in Q3 from an initial estimate of 2.1%, posting the fastest growth rate since the end of 2014. Despite the expansion in consumer spending, it was still slower than the 4.3% growth recorded in Q2.
Data also revealed that the export growth, which was 10.1%, was also the fastest rate recorded since Q4 of 2013.

However, the contribution of inventories to GDP growth was not as big as previously estimated and stood at 0.49%, below the 0.61% reported last month. This equaled to $7.6 billion rate in Q3, which was almost half of the $12.6 billion reported last month. This suggests that businesses are not sitting on piles of unwanted goods.