GDP Hits 2.9% In Biggest Gain Since 2014

Good news for Hillary in the final days of the campaign. MarketWatch reports:

The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in two years, aided by a surge in exports and a rebound in the size of inventories companies keep on hand for sale. The government said gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the economy, expanded at a 2.9% annual clip from July through September. That’s a marked improvement from the first half of the year when the U.S. grew just barely over 1%.

The acceleration in growth, along with a steady pace of hiring, is expected to prod the Federal Reserve to raise a key U.S. lending rate in December. Even if the central bank does act, interest rates for all kinds of goods such as mortgages and auto loans are likely to remain quite low for an extended period. In the third quarter, the economy was buffeted again by diverging forces. Consumers increased spending by a moderate 2.1%, exports posted the biggest increase in almost three years and businesses restocked warehouse shelves after a rare decline in inventories in the spring.