U.S. economy rebounded strongly in the third quarter

The U.S. economy grew at a record annualized rate of 33.1% between July and September clawing back much of the ground it had lost during the coronavirus-fueled shutdown earlier in the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Increased consumer spending, private investment and exports drove the increase, which was partly offset by falling government spending as stimulus funds dried up and states slashed their budgets.

The rebound puts the nation’s gross domestic product — the total value of all the goods and products the economy produces — at $21.16 trillion for the three months ending in September. That’s below its level at the end of last year.

“[W]hile it’s appropriate to be pleased that growth rebounded strongly in the third quarter, it can’t obscure the fact that large parts of the economy are still reeling from the Covid hit,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a research note.

This is a developing story.