United States. In the third quarter of 2009, the U.S. economy grew, according to the Commerce Department. This increase, the first since 2008, came as consumer spending and investment for home construction rebounded.The government reported that the country's GDP amounted to an annual rate of 3.5%, the strongest pace since the same time span two years ago (2007).
Within GDP, consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the country's economic activity, while housing showed its first increase since the first quarter of 2005, with fixed residential investment growing 23.4% from July to September 2009, its largest increase since 1986. On the other hand, exports grew by 14.7% and imports rose by 16.4%.
However, this report from the Department of Commerce does not represent that the economy is at a good point, since its expansion only compensates, in part, for the decline of about 6% last fall and winter (2008). During the second half of the year, GDP contracted by 0.7%.
Some economists consider the expansion to be weak and expect the unemployment rate, which reached a 26-year high of 9.8% in September 2009, to rise by 10% and remain so for a while.
Source: AméricaEconomía and Los Angeles Times.
