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America’s economy is at a historic point ahead of presidential election

  • CNN
  • October 30, 2024
Washington

CNN

 — 

The US economy seems to have pulled off a remarkable and historic achievement.

Gross domestic product, which measures all the goods and services produced in the economy, expanded at an annualized rate of 2.8% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That's a slightly weaker pace than the second quarter's 3% rate and above the 2.6% rate economists projected in a FactSet poll. GDP is adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation.

As the US economy continued to expand from July through September, inflation drifted lower toward the Federal Reserve's 2% target during that same period, the report showed. Several economists tell CNN that the economy has finally pulled off an exceptionally rare achievement known as a soft landing, a scenario in which inflation is tamed without a recession.

"I think we should declare a soft landing now," said James Bullard, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in an interview with CNN earlier this month.

American shoppers continued to fuel economic growth in the third quarter with their spending, according to the report. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic output.