By Timothy R. Homan
Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON – The value of goods and services produced in the United States has surpassed its pre-recession level after 15 quarters, taking three times longer than the average for 10 previous recoveries since World War II.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the period from July through September, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, the fastest pace in a year and up from 1.3 percent in the prior three-month period. After adjusting for inflation, GDP climbed to $13.35 trillion last quarter, topping the $13.33 trillion peak reached in the last three months of 2007.
“The American economy finally has accomplished the recovery and has now entered the expansion,” said Neal Soss, chief economist with Credit Suisse in New York, who was an aide to former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. “But the growth is clearly too slow to solve the most significant problems the economy faces: jobs and getting the public budgets under control.”