The Bureau of Economic Analysis released revised GDP statistics for the third quarter today. The news was reasonably good.
Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2004 according to preliminary estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter real GDP increased 3.3 percent.
The advance 3rd quarter estimate of annualized GDP growth was 3.7 percent. While output growth was robust, price level growth was modest.
The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.8 percent in the third quarter, the same as in the advance estimate; the index increased 3.5 percent in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.6 percent in the third quarter, conmpared with an increase of 2.5 percent in the second.
However, it appears that markets today had their hearts set on bad news. This, from the AP (as found in the SignonSanDiego.com):
Stocks sagged Tuesday as sliding consumer confidence trumped the latest report on the nation's gross domestic product, which grew at a faster pace than expected.
On the other hand, here's the more important part of the story.
Still, the major indexes ended November with their best monthly performance for the year.