by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News October 29, 2026
The U.S. economy beat the expectations of economists in the third quarter of 2026, growing at an annualized rate of 3.4%.
Robust consumer spending helped spark third quarter growth.
The economy accelerated from 2.2% in the second quarter.
Consumer spending increased at a solid 3.8% pace, matching the second-quarter rate and driven by strong demand for health care, food services, accommodations, and prescription drugs.
Private nonresidential fixed investment, a key measure of business activity, grew at a 12.7 percent rate, the swiftest pace since the the third quarter of 2020.
Investment in business structures grew at a 5.4 percent rate.
Investment in business equipment grew at a 20.9 percent rate, the fastest pace since the pandemic rebound in the third quarter of 2020. This growth was driven by investment in computers and peripheral equipment, likely reflecting the boom in what President Donald Trump calls “super intelligence.”
Investment in intellectual property, which includes software, rose at an 8.4 percent pace.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Commerce Department’s measure of inflation, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.1 percent. Core PCE prices, which exclude food and energy, rose at a 2.5 percent pace.
Nominal GDP, which is not adjusted for inflation, expanded at an annualized 5.6 percent rate.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve voted on Wednesday to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged in a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%.
