Economy Rose At Fastest Pace In 2 Years As Consumer Confidence Soars

Investors Business Daily ^ | 11/29/16 4:13 PM ET | ED CARSON

[expat_panama]

The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That's the strongest growth since the second quarter of 2014 and revised up slightly from the initial reading of a 2.9% gain.

Economists had expected a 3.1% revised reading.

Consumer spending rose at a 2.8% pace, faster than the initial reading of 2.1%. .

Separately, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index shot up 8.5 points in November to 107.1, the highest since July 2007 and much better than views for a rise to 101. The reading, which reflects post-election sentiment, showed consumers are more upbeat about current and future conditions for business and jobs.

Together with the GDP data, the report bodes well for consumers' willingness to spend this holiday season.

Initial readings on holiday spending have been mixed. In-store sales over the Thanksgiving weekend fell particularly sharply, though that partly reflects a shift to online shopping and retailers offering deals throughout November and December.

Online holiday sales are booming, growing even stronger than expected. That should be good news for Amazon (AMZN), which has outstripped e-commerce growth in recent years. But Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), Wal-Mart (WMT) and other retailers are putting more effort than ever on online sales.

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[trebb]

Thanks - it shows that political philosophies help dictate what folks consider good vs. bad.

I wonder what the Market would be doing right now if Hillary had won - it seems to think there are some positive aspects of a Trump Presidency - unless they plan on pumping it up for a huge sell off at the turn of the year and this is the first time in a long time I have a more cheerful outlook about the viability.

[falcon99]

You should try quoting correctly. I said “I” don’t believe the government, but the way you quoted it is sounds like I am telling others not to believe it. I really don’t care if you or others believe it or not. They have lies so many times, everything coming from this administration is suspect as far as I am concerned.