By Eric Morath | The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. economy stayed afloat in the third quarter despite global turmoil, but it’s struggling to break out of the slow-growth pace that has plagued the economic expansion.
The economy grew at a modest 1.5% seasonally adjusted annual rate from July through September, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That marked a deceleration from the second quarter, when U.S. gross domestic product—the broadest measure of economic output—expanded at a 3.9% pace.
Solid consumer outlays and increased spending on business equipment and home building propelled the economy against overseas headwinds weighing on U.S. manufacturers. But from a year earlier, the growth advanced at a familiar 2% rate—showing the economy remains locked into a restrained expansion more than six years after the recession ended.