President Joe Biden lauded strong economic growth and credited his policies for it.
The economy grew by a 4.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the third quarter of this year, up from 2.1% the quarter before, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Thursday morning. Biden said he was pleased with the figure.
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“I never believed we would need a recession to bring inflation down — and today we saw again that the American economy continues to grow even as inflation has come down,” he said. “It is a testament to the resilience of American consumers and American workers, supported by Bidenomics — my plan to grow the economy by growing the middle class.”
Economists had expected GDP growth to increase by 4.2%, so the report came in even hotter than anticipated. While that is good news for the overall health of the economy, it complicates things for the Federal Reserve, which has been raising interest rates for more than a year to tamp down the country’s still-too-high inflation.
The president mostly elided that issue in his statement, simply noting that inflation is “down.” While that’s true, inflation is still roughly double the Fed’s 2% target and nearly triple the 1.4% inflation rate the month Biden took office.
He stressed other positive economic signals in the statement, just as he has done in recent speeches.
“The unemployment rate has been below 4% for 20 months in a row, real wages are up over the last year, and median wealth for American families has grown by a record amount accounting for inflation,” Biden said.
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The president also mentioned the tentative deal between Ford and the United Auto Workers, and took a minor dig at the GOP.
“I hope Republicans in Congress will join me in working to build on this progress, rather than putting our economy at risk with reckless threats of a shutdown or proposals to cut taxes for the wealthy and large corporations, while slashing programs that are essential for hard-working families and seniors,” Biden said.
