“Charging Bull”, sculpture by Arturo Di Modica
The North American economy contradicted expectations in the third quarter of a year marked by uncertainty: it grew robustly, and much more than expected — according to analysts, because North Americans continued to spend.
According to a report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released this Tuesday, the North American economy grew robustly in July, August and September, supported by a consistent expense of consumers, especially in healthcare.
Gross Domestic Product, the most comprehensive measure of a country’s economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, well above the 3.8% expansion observed between April and June.
O growth accelerated compared to the first months of 2025, a period in which the US economy came to contract at an annual rate of 0.6%, at a time when the president Donald Trump was preparing to implement far-reaching global tariffs, note a.
The numbers now released are quite late. The presentation of the report was initially scheduled for the end of October, but was disrupted by historic federal government shutdown.
The report is published at a time when surveys increasingly indicate a pessimism of North Americans regarding the way President Trump is managing the economy and the high cost of living.
Data from the third quarter show a decrease in investment business and residential investment. On the other hand, state and local government spending increased.
The effects of trade fluctuations were more mixed in the most recent report than at the beginning of the year: imports of goods fellwhile the exports increased. Imports are subtracted from the official measure of domestic economic activity, so tend to put pressure on GDP down.
The report indicates that North Americans continued to spendbut are becoming more cautious. People spent more in hospital services and nursing homes, in medicines subject to medical prescription and in “medical equipment information processing”, such as computer hardware — presumably in the context of the AI boom.
The report also showed that the disposable personal income remained stagnant in the quarter, as the Inflation continues to erode wages.
“We’re sliding on past successbecause consumers benefited from two consecutive years of strong wage gains”, explains To Michael Zdieconomist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told NPR.
“Today’s report shows that demand is strong and that consumers are willing to spend — if they didn’t have this sword of Damocles over the head: the idea that, for example, AI will take away their jobs or that mass layoffs are just around the corner”, he adds.
Second Mark Hamricksenior economic analyst at Bankrate interviewed by , Americans will have to wait until next year to gain greater clarity on how the economy is performing.
“A central issue for consumers, who fuel the U.S. economy, is know if the job market stabilizes or even improves modestly in the coming months,” details Hamrick. “If it doesn’t happen, their resilience and the resilience of the economy will be put to the test”.
On average, wages have grown faster than prices. But these salary gains have slowed down in recent monthsas the labor market lost strength, reducing workers’ bargaining power to obtain raises. You consumers with higher incomes have supported much of the US spending on stores and restaurants.
A inflation has been slowing down notably, with consumer prices rising a modest 2.7% in November compared to a year before.
Some food goods continued to fall in price, but not enough to compensate for the increase in large expensessuch as house rent, electricity and health insurance.
