US real GDP growth The US economy expanded at an annualised rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2014, ending years of mediocre domestic growth and shaking off the more recent weakness in other major global economies. The figure came in well ahead of analysts’ expectations of 3 per cent growth – supporting the US Federal Reserve’s decision to end its third round of quantitative easing on Wednesday. But the details portray an economy that is steady, not accelerating. They suggest the US economy is ploughing forward, despite drag from the eurozone and emerging markets, but not rapidly enough to become the engine of global growth. “The growth in household consumption was disappointing, and business investment grew only moderately,” said Gad Levanon at the business organisation the Conference Board. “We expect the US economy to grow at about a 2.5 per cent rate on average in […]