Revised up a bit as expected, pretty much all from revising up consumer spending. And it’s still a soybean export and inventory building story:
Highlights
The third quarter has gotten a meaningful upgrade. The second estimate is 3 tenths higher than the first, at a plus 3.2 percent annualized rate and which includes an upgrade for consumer spending and, in further good news, a downgrade in inventory growth. Personal consumption expenditures rose at a 2.8 percent pace in the quarter, up 7 tenths from the initial estimate and, outside the 4.3 percent surge in the second quarter, the best showing by the consumer since second quarter last year. Inventories added $7.6 billion in the quarter, down from an initial $12.6 billion in a revision that held down the quarter’s GDP but which will ease concerns of unwanted overhang that could slow fourth-quarter production.
Other details include less downward pull from residential investment, a component that had been strongly positive in prior quarters, and a downgrade for nonresidential investment which is now only marginally in the plus column. Net exports shaved $521.0 billion from the quarter’s total, little changed from the initial estimate, with government purchases a small positive. Price data were shaved lower with the GDP price index revised down 1 tenth to only 1.4 percent.
This report points to greater-than-expected consumer momentum going into the current quarter, helping to explain the big 0.8 percent surge in retail sales for October. The consumer has jobs and is the driving force of the economy.
An early show of confidence in the new President:
Looks hopeful, but didn’t work out so well last time there was a mini spike like this:
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The market’s newest risk: Trump venting ‘frustrations through his Twitter account’
Why Donald Trump won’t change – CNN
Winning the presidency didn’t change Donald Trump — and it’s increasingly clear that actually being president won’t change him either.Trump hasn’t had a news conference since July – USA Today
Trump hasn’t had a news conference since July. On Monday afternoon, a lectern with “Trump” written in gold letters was wheeled upstairs inside Trump Tower.