Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023 according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent. The GDP estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency. The “second” estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on November 29, 2023.  [Note: the rate of GDP was the most robust since the fourth quarter of 2021].

The increase in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, federal government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a decrease in nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.