Why so glum, Mr. Boehner?
Consumer spending fueled the
biggest quarter of economic growth in the country since 2003.
Gross domestic product grew at a 5 percent annual rate from July through September, the biggest advance since the third quarter of 2003 and up from a previously estimated 3.9 percent, revised figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 4.3 percent increase in GDP. […]
“We are the locomotive of growth for the world right now,” said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, whose projection for a 4.7 percent pace of growth was among the closest in a Bloomberg survey. “Fourth-quarter growth is probably going to be more modest,” with areas such as business investment slowing as the plunge in oil prices means less energy-related spending, he said.
The White House released a statement from Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, who pointed out that the "strong GDP growth is consistent with a broad range of other indicators showing improvement in the labor market, increasing domestic energy security, and continued low health cost growth."