US GDP growth could have been higher in Q3, at +2.4% (annualized), if it weren’t for the ongoing drought. Tapping into inventories made the actual result +2%, only marginally above expectations.
The drought in the US lowered farm inventories and this subtracted 0.4% from the bottom line. This is relatively encouraging.
So, when this issue is resolved, inventories will have to be rebuilt, pushing growth into the near future. However, the lower exports amid a global slowdown (Chinese landing, European debt crisis), could be a bigger danger to the US economy.
Official expectations stood on +1.9%, but the worse-than-expected durable goods orders lowered expectations. It’s important to note that the data undergoes two official revisions – the last one is called “final”, but this data is also far from final, as it can sometimes be revised more than one year later.
Economic figures from the world’s No. 1 economy have been mixed of late, with a stronger performance from the housing sector and a weaker one from manufacturing.
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