AFP, Washington :
US economic growth accelerated to a 2.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter boosted by a big jump in exports and solid consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Coming just 11 days before the presidential election in which the economy has been a major issue, the GDP data showed the strongest growth in two years, and beat the consensus forecast of 2.5 percent.
The strong report may increase the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year, something it has not done since December 2015. Most analysts expect the Fed to do nothing at its meeting next week, and wait until December to act.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, cautioned against precipitous action, since the economy’s expansion after the financial crisis has averaged only 2 percent.
“The Federal Reserve could be tempted to hurry the interest rate hike because of the good GDP number,” he said, but policymakers should keep in mind the economy’s “subpar performance” in the past six years.
US economic growth accelerated to a 2.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter boosted by a big jump in exports and solid consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Coming just 11 days before the presidential election in which the economy has been a major issue, the GDP data showed the strongest growth in two years, and beat the consensus forecast of 2.5 percent.
The strong report may increase the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year, something it has not done since December 2015. Most analysts expect the Fed to do nothing at its meeting next week, and wait until December to act.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, cautioned against precipitous action, since the economy’s expansion after the financial crisis has averaged only 2 percent.
“The Federal Reserve could be tempted to hurry the interest rate hike because of the good GDP number,” he said, but policymakers should keep in mind the economy’s “subpar performance” in the past six years.
