US Economy Expanded Significantly In 3rd Quarter After Months Of Shrinking
By Jason Hall
October 27, 2022
The United States economy saw significant growth in the third quarter of 2022, following the contraction experienced during the first six months of the year, government data obtained by ABC News on Thursday (October 27) shows.
U.S. gross domestic product increased by 2.6% during the three-month period ending in September after shrinking by a combined 2.2% during the first six months of the year.
In July, the U.S. economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, with the GDP reported to be down by 0.9% from April through June and fears of a potential recession.
The economic growth defies Federal Reserve efforts to slow economic activity and cut consumer demand in an effort to combat rising inflation.
The data released on Thursday also comes less than two weeks before the midterm elections, with many saying inflation remains the top issue among Americans as the annual rate continues to increase to multi-decade highs.
An estimated 38% of responding Americans cited the economic issue as the most important problem in the U.S. as part of a poll conducted by Gallup.com earlier this month.
Economic problems also had the highest percentage in August (37%), July (35%), June (40%), May (37%) and April (39%).
The latest poll coincides with the U.S. inflation rate hitting an 8.2% increase from September 2021 to September 2022, following an 8.3% reading for price increases from August 2021 to August 2022, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday (October 13) morning via NBC News.
Higher prices for food, shelter and medical care continue to cause the increased inflation totals, according to the data.
President Joe Biden's administration has taken measures to address the issue, including the Inflation Reduction Act, however, provisions in the law will take place during a 10-year period and at least two separate models predict it may not bring statistical significance toward impacting inflation.
The Federal Reserve has already increased its benchmark rate five times in 2022 -- including three consecutive hikes of 0.75% -- in an effort to make borrowing and spending money more expensive to deter consumer demand.