The U.S. economy grew an annualized 2.6 percent in real terms in the July to September period after contracting for the first six months of this year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The third-quarter figure, in terms of the inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, beat the average market forecast of a 2.4 percent expansion. The data came out as fears of a recession linger amid the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes to tackle inflation.
Private consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of the world's largest economy, rose 1.4 percent after a 2.0 percent increase in the April-June period, according to the department.
Nonresidential private investment, a measure of business spending, grew 3.7 percent after edging up by 0.1 percent the previous quarter.
Exports increased 14.4 percent, while imports declined 6.9 percent.
Government spending increased 2.4 percent, compared with a 1.6 percent decline in the second quarter.
The U.S. economy had staged a sharp recovery from the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but it has been overshadowed by elevated prices on the back of Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February.
Two straight quarters of negative growth is typically viewed as a possible sign of a recession.
GDP measures the total output of goods and services within a country's borders.
