The United States economy grew at an annual rate of 2 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday, as it struggled to sustain its recovery from a deep recession.
That estimated growth rate matches the consensus forecasts for the gross domestic product, and is the barest tick up from the second quarter, which was also not encouraging.
An economy growing at a sluggish 2 percent, almost all economists agree, cannot produce nearly the demand needed to lower the nation’s painfully high 9.6 percent unemployment rate. And inventories continued to grow and the trade gap remained wide, as imports outpaced exports.
Full Story: U.S. Economy Grew at 2% Rate in Third Quarter – NYTimes.com