According to the Commerce Department, the US economy grew at a rate of 2.3 percent in the third quarter. The rapid spread of the current strain of the coronavirus, however, is clouding chances for a strong recovery in the future.
The nation’s overall output of goods and services, as measured by the gross domestic product, is up slightly from last month’s projection of 2.1 percent growth in the third quarter.
Following substantially faster growth of 6.3 percent in the first quarter and 6.7 percent in the second quarter, the third quarter performance was much slower. Much of the third quarter slowdown was attributed to the emergence of the delta variant in the summer.
There are concerns about future growth possibilities now that the omicron version has appeared, on top of rising inflation and persisting supply chain difficulties.
These uncertainties have sent stock market on a roller coaster ride in recent days, while new hope that the omicron hazards may be handled let the Dow Jones industrial average bounce 560-points on Tuesday.
