By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com --The U.S. economy rebounded from six months of contraction in the third quarter, according to preliminary data from the Department of Commerce on Thursday, as a rise in exports and consumer spending was partly offset by a fall in housing investment.
Gross domestic product grew by 2.6% on a year-on-year basis in the July to September period, up from declines of 1.6% and 0.6% in the first and second quarters, respectively. Economists had expected the reading to come in at 2.4%.
Exports jumped, particularly of industrial supplies and materials, as well as travel and financial services. Consumer spending also increased, as a fall in demand for cars and food was outweighed by expenditures on health care services.
Meanwhile, fixed investment on residential properties slumped, led lower by a decrease in new single-family home construction and brokers' commissions.
The GDP uptick halts a so-called "technical recession" - or two straight quarters of negative GDP levels - in the world's largest economy.
Debate swirled earlier this year around whether the U.S. was actually in a recession, with the Biden administration consistently dismissing the claim.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, the ultimate judge of a recession, did not formally declare that one was underway. It has maintained that other factors besides the GDP number, including the health of the labor market and industrial production, play into its assessment.