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The US economy grew at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter, exceeding economists’ expectations, according to official data released on Tuesday.
The increase in gross domestic product, which was driven by consumer and government spending as well as an increase in exports, beat estimates for a 3.2 percent increase among economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which was recently delayed by the government shutdown, provides the clearest snapshot of the state of the U.S. economy this year since GDP reports for the first two quarters were distorted by large trade fluctuations.
The world’s largest economy shrank an annualized 0.5 percent in the first quarter as businesses rushed to buy foreign goods ahead of the implementation of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, before expanding by 3.8 percent in the second quarter due to a decline in imports.
Markets were slow to react to Tuesday’s data, with many people at Wall Street trading desks out of the office. Treasury yields rose, although the dollar index and stock futures were little changed.
Imports, which have a negative impact on GDP, fell again in the third quarter.
Third-quarter growth was boosted by heavy investment in AI infrastructure and healthy consumer spending by wealthy Americans — particularly on electric vehicles ahead of the expiration of Biden-era subsidies. Health care spending also increased.
Shutdown-related issues as well as a slowdown in consumer spending are expected to weigh on growth in the last quarter of 2025. Data for this period has also been delayed due to the shutdown and will be released next year.
This is a developing story
