The economy picked up slightly in the third quarter of the year, growing at an annual rate of 2.0 percent, the Commerce Department reported in a Friday estimate.
- The change in the real Gross Domestic Product was just above economists’ expectations of a sluggish rate of 1.8 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey. Real GDP grew 1.3 percent in the second quarter and 2.0 percent in the first quarter.
- Only one major pre-election economic release remains: the October employment report, which is due next Friday, just days before the election. An unexpected drop to 7.8 percent unemployment last month led some to suggest that the report had been tampered with, though economists across the political spectrum dismissed the concerns.
- Some economists have warned that business activity in the final quarter of the year may be subdued due in part to policy uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff—the twin year-end threats of expiring tax cuts and looming across-the-board spending cuts.
- Friday’s report was a first estimate, subject to multiple subsequent revisions.
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