THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US economy recorded its fastest growth in a year last quarter as American consumers and businesses defied the turmoil in financial markets and picked up their spending.
Gross domestic product in the third quarter expanded at an annualised pace of 2.5pc, up from 1.3pc in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
Households and businesses drove the growth in a quarter marked by the debacle in Washington over the debt ceiling and a heightening of fear in the US over the threat posed to the global economy by Europe's debt crisis.
However, an easing in gasoline prices saw household spending climb at a 2.4pc pace in the quarter, more than double forecasts. American businesses, which are sitting on more than $1 trillion in cash, also dug into their corporate pockets to spend on a range of equipment including computer technology and software. Business spending jumped at [at] 16.3pc rate in the quarter.
The third-quarter figure, which matched the expectations of economists on Wall Street, barely registered with stock markets still digesting the deal that emerged from Europe overnight. While the number allays fears that the world's biggest economy is in imminent danger of a second recession, few were euphoric. » | Richard Blackden | Thursday, October 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: World power swings back to America: The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus. » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor | Sunday, October 23, 2011
