The economy grew at a annual rate of 2 percent in the third quarter, as more positive consumer activity and a healthier housing sector outweighed the effects of the drought, caution on the part of businesses and weaker exports.
The new figure, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, is the government’s first estimate of growth in the third quarter. It compares with the 1.3 percent pace of growth in the second quarter. In the first quarter of 2012, the economy also grew by 2 percent.
The report, stronger than expected, came amid fears that companies are clamping down on spending in the face of fiscal uncertainty in Washington, a recession in parts of Europe and a deceleration in demand from China. Some economists fear all these factors will keep a lid on any pickup in growth in the final quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.
Exports, for example, decreased by 1.6 percent in the latest quarter, compared to a 5.3 percent increase in the second quarter.
The slow pace of growth since the end of the last recession has been a dominant theme in the presidential race, with Republicans pointing to recent data as evidence that the economy is moving too slowly to make a meaningful dent in unemployment.
In recent days, government data and earnings reports from corporate bellwethers have suggested that companies are becoming more cautious. On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, were flat in September, disappointing experts who had forecast a slight gain.
But there were several elements of good news for the White House in Friday’s report. Consumer spending rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2 percent, compared to 1.5 percent in the second quarter. Residential investment increased at an annual rate of 14.4 percent in the third quarter, versus 8.5 percent in the second quarter, a positive sign for the housing sector.
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