US GDP continues to fly, even in the third quarter. The growth of the US economy was even revised upwards to +3,9%, from the +3,5% indicated at the end of October in the preliminary estimate. The data disclosed by the Department of Commerce is therefore now clearly higher than the expectations of analysts, who expected growth of at most +3,3%.
The revision increased further mainly thanks to higher-than-expected data on personal expenses (+2,2% from +1,8%) and investments (+5,1% from +1%). In particular, consumption, which represents two-thirds of US GDP, contributed more than one and a half points to growth, mainly supported by spending on durable goods (+8,7%). On the investment front, both business (+7,1%) and residential (+2,7%) rebounded.
Conversely, the improvement in exports was revised downwards to +4,9% from +7,8%. Public spending also rose by 4,2% instead of the 4,6% previously indicated. Growth in the July-September period shows a slight slowdown compared to +4,6% in the second quarter, while in the first quarter there was a drop of 1% due, however, to negative weather conditions. With the data for the third quarter, the upward quarters on the last 19 are brought to 21.
The recovery is sustained, despite the real estate market which is slowing down. The S&P Case-Shiller index relating to the top twenty cities recorded an increase of 4,9% on an annual basis in September, down sharply from 5,6% in August. Expectations were for +4,6%. On a monthly basis there was a decrease of less than 0,1%. In the 10 main cities, the increase in prices was 4,8% with a monthly variation, also in this case not very significant, of less than 0,1%. The national figure sees +4,8% per year and -0,1% per month.
