U.S. Economy Up 3.5% in 3rd Quarter, Capping Best 6 Months in Over a Decade.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-30/economy-in-u-s-grew-3-5-in-third-quarter-more-than-forecast.html

The economy in the U.S. expanded more than forecast in the third quarter, capping its strongest six months in more than a decade, as gains in government spending and a shrinking trade deficit made up for a slowdown in household purchases.

Gross domestic product grew at a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the three months ended September after a 4.6 percent gain in the second quarter, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. It marked the strongest back-to-back readings since the last six months of 2003. The median forecast of 87 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3 percent advance.

Growing oil production is limiting imports and contributing to a pickup in manufacturing, allowing the economy to overcome slowing growth in overseas markets from Europe to China. At the same time, job gains and cheaper gasoline are giving American consumers the confidence and the means to spend, brightening the outlook for the holiday-shopping season and helping explain why the Federal Reserve ended its bond-buying program yesterday.

“The fundamentals behind the consumer are improving as job growth gains traction,” Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Detroit, said before the report. “And with consumer confidence rising, that is a clear indicator that consumers are feeling better about the economy.”

Forecasts in the Bloomberg survey of economists ranged from 2.1 percent to 4 percent. Today’s estimate is the first of three for the quarter, with the other releases scheduled for November and December when more information becomes available.