Real GDP for the third quarter grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate. GDP was revised down slightly from the second estimate of 2.1 percent growth. During the second quarter, GDP grew at a rate of 3.9 percent. The third quarter’s slower growth partly reflected a downturn in private inventory investment, as well as decelerations in exports.
Consumption was the largest contributor to GDP, accounting for 2.04 percent of GDP growth, down from 2.42 percent during the second quarter, as spending for both goods and services slowed.
Inventories were the largest drag on GDP growth, subtracting 0.71 percent from GDP growth, as non-farm inventories declined by $31.8 billion. Net exports were also a drag, subtracting 0.26 percent from growth as exports fell.
Government expenditures contributed 0.32 percent to growth, down from 0.46 percent in the previous quarter, as state and local spending slowed.
Read the BEA release.