The
Commerce Department released on Thursday its advance estimate for the U.S.
gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2021, which revealed the
U.S. economy expanded less than expected in the reviewed period.
According
to the estimate, the U.S. real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent q-o-q last
quarter, following an unrevised 6.7 percent q-o-q expansion in the second
quarter,
reflecting the continued economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a
resurgence of coronavirus cases resulted in new restrictions and delays in the
reopening of establishments in some parts of the country.
Economists
had expected GDP to increase 2.7 percent q-o-q.
According
to the report, the advance in real GDP in the third quarter reflected gains in
private inventory investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), state
and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment, which,
however, were partly offset by declines in residential fixed investment,
federal government spending, and exports. Meanwhile, imports, which are a
subtraction in the calculation of GDP, rose.