People shop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Oct 26, 2023. The U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023, outpacing expectations, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Photo:Xinhua

The US real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023, outpacing expectations, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.

In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Compared to the second quarter, the acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter reflected accelerations in consumer spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending and upturns in exports and residential fixed investment.

These movements were partly offset by a downturn in nonresidential fixed investment and a deceleration in state and local government spending.

Personal consumption expenditures grew by 4.0 percent in the third quarter, up from 0.8 in the previous quarter. Nonresidential fixed investment, an indicator of business investment, contracted 0.1 percent in the third quarter, after surging 7.4 percent in the second quarter.

"The economy is slowing faster than recent data suggests," Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman recently said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Once the strong Q3 GDP is behind us, and people start focusing on Q4, which is likely to be much lower, then we may start to see some talk of (rates) 'high for not much longer'," Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua.

According to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook released earlier this month, the US economy is projected to grow 2.1 percent in 2023, and the growth will slow to 1.5 percent in 2024.

The second estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on Nov 29.

People shop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Oct 26, 2023. The U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023, outpacing expectations, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Photo:Xinhua