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US Economy Surges 7.4% From July to September

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy surged 7.4% from July to September, the
   country's Commerce Department reported Thursday, as businesses began to
   reopen and consumers, supported by government coronavirus relief
   assistance, started spending again amid the ongoing pandemic.
   The third quarter gain partially offset the 9% plunge in the
   April-to-June period when much of the country's economic life was shut
   down as the coronavirus swept into the country from China and Europe.
   The third quarter advance is the last major economic report before next
   Tuesday's presidential and congressional elections, and it could
   buttress claims by Republican President Donald Trump in his contest
   against Democratic challenger Joe Biden that the country is on pace for
   a rapid recovery.

   Trump, in a Twitter comment, called the new figure the "Biggest and
   Best in the History of our Country, and not even close. Next year will
   be FANTASTIC!!! However, Sleepy Joe Biden and his proposed record
   setting tax increase, would kill it all. So glad this great GDP (Gross
   Domestic Product) number came out before November 3rd."

     GDP number just announced. Biggest and Best in the History of our
     Country, and not even close. Next year will be FANTASTIC!!! However,
     Sleepy Joe Biden and his proposed record setting tax increase, would
     kill it all. So glad this great GDP number came out before November
     3rd.
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]October 29, 2020

   Biden, however, said in a statement, "Yes, GDP rose last quarter, but
   visits to food banks haven't slowed, and poverty has grown. African
   Americans and Latinos still face double-digit unemployment rates. The
   added caregiving burden in the wake of Trump's failed pandemic response
   has forced many women to drop out of the labor force altogether."

   Biden concluded, "The recovery is slowing if not stalling; and the
   recovery that is happening is helping those at the top but leaving tens
   of millions of working families and small businesses behind."
   The three-month surge translated into a 33.1% annualized rate, a hugely
   unsustainable figure in a country that is more accustomed to annual
   gains of 2% to 3%.
   Economists say they expect the U.S. economy, the world's largest, to
   advance again in the last three months of the year, but not as fast as
   in the third quarter. The U.S. economy for the year is expected to
   finish smaller than at the end of 2019.
   Uncertainty lies in the fact that the U.S. is now recording soaring
   numbers of new coronavirus cases -- 70,000 or more daily in recent days
   -- that could curb commerce, as some state officials reimpose
   restrictions on businesses they previously had lifted.
   Whether there will be more government coronavirus relief assistance and
   when -- beyond the mostly already spent $3 trillion approved months ago
   -- is also unclear.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1321812933135994881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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