Consumer Spending Probably Lifted Growth: U.S. Economy Preview

Spending by American consumers probably picked up in the third quarter, helping the world’s largest economy overcome a slump in business investment that is holding back the expansion.

Gross domestic product rose at a 1.8 percent annual rate after expanding at a 1.3 percent pace the prior quarter, according to the median forecast of 66 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of Commerce Department data Oct. 26. It would be the first back-to-back readings lower than 2 percent since the U.S. was emerging from the recession in 2009.