News updates from December 21: US GDP revised down in Q3, Angola to leave Opec

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US economic growth and inflation were slower in the third quarter than previously reported, supporting the potential for a “soft landing” and the Federal Reserve’s pivot towards interest rate cuts in 2024.

Gross domestic product increased at an annualised rate of 4.9 per cent from July to September, the commerce department said in its final report on Thursday, down from its second estimate of 5.2 per cent.

Economists expected GDP to hold steady, but the final revision has taken the rate back to the department’s initial calculation.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which is closely watched by the Fed, rose by 2 per cent last quarter, less than the 2.3 per cent forecast by economists, bolstering the central bank’s aims to cut rates next year.

The new data was “an impressive print that is consistent with the Fed’s target and reinforces Powell’s pivot, if nothing else”, said Ian Lyngen, head of US rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.

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