Deer Hunters Net

The Commerce Department revised its third-quarter economy estimation sharply downward today, from the previously announced 3.5% annualized growth to 2.8% instead. That number would still be the best quarter in almost two years, but as the AP notes, it’s almost entirely comprised of short-term government stimulus:

The economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace last quarter, as the recovery got off to a slower start than first thought.
The Commerce Department’s new reading on gross domestic product wasn’t as energetic as the 3.5 percent growth rate for the July-September period estimated just a month ago.
The main factors behind the downgrade: consumers didn’t spend as much, commercial construction was weaker and the nation’s trade deficit was more of a drag on growth. Businesses also trimmed more of their stockpiles, another restraining factor.
The new reading on GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States — from machinery to manicures — was a tad weaker than the 2.9 percent growth rate economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected