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The economic recovery of the United States slowed down in the third quarter of the year, when the gross domestic product (GDP) registered a growth of only 0.5 %, due to the economic measures promoted by the Biden Administration that have limited the supply chain and led to an increase in inflation.
According to the first of three estimates on the country’s economic activity, published Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), growth was only half a point compared to the 1.6 % recorded in the previous three months.
Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the country’s economy, grew by only 1.6 % between July and September, compared to 12 % in the second quarter of the year.
Unemployment on the decline
Despite the quarterly economic slowdown, on Thursday there were some good news on the jobs area with a decline in weekly jobless claims to the lowest since the advent of the pandemic.
This indicator fell to 281,000 last week, down from 291,000 in the previous week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Thursday, bringing the level of claims still close to the pre-covid-19 average of about 205,000 weekly filings.
The unemployment rate, which rose to over 14 % in April 2020, has continued to steadily decline and stood at 4.8 % in September, with Florida, the state governed by Republican, Ron DeSantis, leading the nation in job creation.
Inflation rises on Biden Administration’s spending measures
The main concern for months has been the steady increase in prices. The inflation rate closed last month at 5.4 %, a level not seen in the United States in more than a decade.
The Federal Reserve (Fed), which said at mid-year that inflation would be “transitory” in nature, has been forced to acknowledge that the rise in prices could last longer than anticipated.
In September, the Fed lowered its economic growth forecast to 5.9 % this year, compared to the 7 % estimated three months ago, while slightly raising its inflation forecast from 3.4 % to 4.2 % by the end of 2021.
