The US economy grew 3.5 percent in the third quarter:
This is a good number, but it’s down from last quarter. However, personal consumption was up (4.0 percent), gross private investment was up (12.0 percent), and government consumption was up (3.3 percent). That’s a nice, even spread. Oddly, however, business fixed investment was up only 0.8 percent. Given the recent tax cut and the strong showing of corporate earnings last quarter, you’d think business investment would be stronger. Do they know something the rest of us don’t?
Maybe. More likely, though, this is just noise. A single reading for a single quarter doesn’t mean a whole lot. Overall, the economy still looks pretty good.
