Us economy growth pick up in Q3

The US economy expanded at its fastest pace since 2014 in the Q3 of 2016 amid higher exports and a rise in inventory investment, official data revealed on Friday. 
The nation’s total economic output expanded at a 2.9% annual rate from July through September, the Commerce Department said Friday. The figure beat analyst expectations and was more than twice the lackluster 1.4% annual rate in the second quarter of the year.

However, the stronger than expected figures are unlikely to influence the Federal Reserve's views, as it is more focused on employment and inflation. The Commerce Department said a sharp rebound in business investment and exports helped fuel the economy’s third-quarter rebound.
Gross private domestic investment increased at a 3.1% annual rate, after declining at a 7.9% pace in the previous quarter. It was the first quarterly increase in a year.

U.S. exports, which have been hurt by the strong dollar, grew at a 10% annual rate in the third quarter, the best performance since 2013. A huge jump in shipments of soybeans explained much of the increase in exports, economists say. China has been one of the biggest buyers of U.S. soybeans. Exports had grown at just a 1.8% rate from April through June and had declined in each of the three previous quarters.

Economists, however, cautioned that the recovery shouldn’t be overestimated, as growth in the quarter was driven by several events unlikely to be repeated in the near future.

“Obviously, the headline number, 2.9 percent, was better than we’ve seen in several quarters,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at J.P. Morgan. “But as we looked at the details, they weren’t as encouraging as the headline might suggest.”