The Commerce Department said Wednesday the U.S. economy was slightly stronger than previously thought during the summer, but growth during the third quarter was held back because of the floods in the Midwest and the drought in the Southeast.
Gross domestic product, which Commerce uses to measure the economy, advanced 2.9 percent in the third quarter, or $36.2 billion, stronger than an earlier estimate of 2.7 percent.In the second quarter, the economy grew 1.9 percent.
The government also said that corporate after-tax profits rose a mere 0.7 percent during the three-month period, down from an earlier estimate of 0.8 percent. In the second quarter, corporate profits climbed 5.2 percent.
The 2.9 percent GDP advance reflects an increase in non-farm inventories which was offset by a drop in farm inventories. Crop output was reduced by $7.5 billion due to the floods and drought. Overall, weather conditions pushed GDP down 0.6 percent, the government said.
GDP is the total value of goods and services produced within the United States and it is used to measure the movement of the economy.