Investing.com - The U.S. economy grew at a 3.5% rate during the third quarter, the fastest pace in two years. But the U.S. economy, overall, is expected to finish 2016 with one of its worst performances since the Great Depression.
The growth was powered strength in consumer spending, business investment and the government sector, the Department of Commerce said Thursday. The government had previously estimated last quarter’s annual growth rate at 3.2%.
The data indicates the American consumer is healthy, emboldened by ongoing gains in employment, increases in wages, and solid balance sheets at the office.
The economy’s growth during last quarter marked a dramatic increase from the sluggish annual growth of 0.8% in the first quarter and 1.4% during the second. Still, growth is expected to slow to a roughly 1.5% annual rate in the October-December quarter.
Growth for the entire year of 2016 is poised report at 1.5%, a decline from 2.6% in 2015 and, overall, the weakest performance since the economy shrank 2.8% in 2009 at the bottom of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, under the leadership of President Obama.
Obama's $1 trillion stimulus package, passed by the Congress immediately upon his installation as president, failed to revive the U.S. economy, and his green regulatory agenda is said to have hamstrung manufacturing during the last eight years.