Win-ter Wonderland! Atlanta Fed GDPNow Rises to 3.3 Percent

The Atlanta Fed’s real-time forecast of economic growth now says GDP appears to be growing at a 3.3 percent annualized rate, up from 2.9 percent on December 8.

The GDPNOW forecast of fourth-quarter consumer spending growth rose to 3.2 percent from 2.4 percent due to better than expected retail sales and news about consumer prices.

The U.S. GDP grew at faster than a 3 percent rate in the second and third quarter. With just two weeks left in the fourth quarter, it is increasingly likely that GDP will once again come in at or above 3 percent. That would be the first time in several years that the U.S. has experienced growth over 3 percent sustained over three back-to-back quarterly periods.

The New York Fed’s version, called the NY Fed Staff Nowcast, was last updated on December 8. For the second week in a row, the Nowcast produced a reading above 3.9 percent. It will be updated again on Friday.

The economy is outperforming forecasts of most economists once again. A survey taken at the start of the corner revealed that economists expected just 2.5 percent growth in the fourth quarter.