Economic Growth Slows to 2 Percent on Slowdown in Consumer Spending and COVID-19 Impacts

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized pace of 2.0 percent in the third quarter, a figure that is well below forecasts, driven down by a slowdown in consumer spending and a resurgence in COVID-19 cases that led to renewed restrictions and delays of reopening of businesses.

Data released on Oct. 28 by the Commerce Department show gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 2.0 percent in the third quarter, after growing 6.7 percent in the second quarter. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected third-quarter GDP to rise by 2.8 percent, with Thursday’s print coming as a downside surprise.

“Even so, that ‘disappointing’ reading is consistent with the U.S. long-term trend, likely only a fairly temporary speed bump caused by the global traffic jam of goods with which we’ve become all too familiar,” Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.