WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate from July through September, snapping two straight quarters of economic contraction and overcoming punishingly high inflation and interest rates.
Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product – the broadest gauge of economic output – grew in the third quarter after having shrunk in the first half of 2022. Stronger exports and steady consumer spending, backed by a healthy job market, helped restore growth to the world’s biggest economy. Still, the outlook for the economy has darkened. T
he Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates five times this year to fight chronic inflation and is set to do so again next week and in December.
Meantime, slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market remains one of the healthiest parts of an uneven U.S. economy.
Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 22 inched up by 3,000 to 217,000 from 214,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week moving average rose to 219,000 from 212,250 the previous week.
Applications for jobless claims, considered a proxy for layoffs, remain historically low. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment aid rose by 55,000 to 1.44 million for the week ending Oct. 15, its highest level in seven months.
{The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
