Watching the US indices soar to their record highs, it is hard to believe that the first estimate of third-quarter US growth was less than half of expectations according to the very first estimate of the Commerce Department. It must be said that the Nasdaq jumped 1.1% to 15,400 points… the absolute zenith of September 6 is equal!
The GDP of the United States contracted sharply from 6.7% to 2% in the third quarter of 2021, while the consensus was for a range of 3.6% to 4%.
GDP suffered from a sharp slowdown in household consumption expenditure following the reduction in government aid (which expired at the end of August).
The decline continues on the unemployment side with registrations for benefits falling by 10,000 the week of the 18th (to 281,000 against 291,000 the previous week). This is the lowest level recorded since March 2020.
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