It’s official: the U.S. economy expanded by 3.5% in the third quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports today. Encouraging as that is, it’s neither a surprise nor anything near to closure for the financial and economic hurricane of the last year or so. But it is a step in the right direct, albeit a tentative and not-yet fully confirming step that the walk ahead will be equally brisk.
Nonetheless, good news is worthy of celebration at this point, if only for a moment. After four straight quarters of retreat, a gain in GDP is no trivial change. All the more so when we dive into the numbers and learn that the expansion was broad based. All the major categories that factor into the final GDP calculation posted healthy gains in Q3. That is, personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, exports and government spending were higher during the three months through September. That compares with red ink on those ledgers in past quarters, save for government spending and a mild rise in consumer spending in Q1 2009.