GDP signals recession is over

By Neil Irwin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 30, 2009

The U.S. economy roared to life this summer, as an array of government actions led to the strongest quarter of growth in two years.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the nation's gross domestic product rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the July-through-September quarter, the clearest evidence yet that the country has begun to emerge from the deepest downturn in decades.

But there were few signs in the new data that the private sector will be able to sustain that growth once the government pulls back, or that the rise will soon translate into an improving job market.

The unemployment rate has continued rising in recent months, to 9.8 percent in September, as businesses remained reluctant to hire.

(More here.)