A
report from the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday that the U.S. economy
grew slightly more than initially estimated in the third quarter of 2021, reflecting
upward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and private
inventory investment.
According
to the second estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual
rate of 2.1 percent in the third quarter, being marginally better than a 2.0
percent increase reported in the advance estimate.
Economists
had expected the growth rate to be revised to 2.2 percent.
In
the second quarter, the U.S. economy expanded by 6.7 percent q-o-q.
The
increase in real GDP in the third quarter of 2021 reflected gains in private inventory investment, 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 in the third quarter.