WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – New data from the Commerce Department shows that in the third quarter, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in two years.
Tuesday, a long-delayed GDP report showed that thanks to strong consumer spending, the U.S. economy in the third quarter grew at its strongest level in three years. GDP is Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of economic activity.
Over the summer months, GDP grew at an annual 4.3% thanks in part to strong auto sales.
President Donald Trump was quick to take credit for the strong GDP report, writing on social media:
“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!” … “The Trump Economic Golden Age” – he wrote – “is FULL steam ahead.”
Inflation, however, remains nearly a full point above the Federal Reserve’s two percent target rate and the latest jobs report showed anemic growth. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 4.6% last month which is its highest level in more than four years.
The consensus among economists is that GDP growth for the full year will come in around two percent. Many businesses have held off on hiring as they wait to see how tariffs will impact consumer spending and whether the Fed will continue to lower interest rates.
In a social media post early Tuesday afternoon, President Trump again made it clear that he wants the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy panel, the Federal Open Market Committee, to lower interest rates again.
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