Press Release

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Statement on Third Quarter GDP

WASHINGTON—The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis today released data on GDP in the third quarter.

Real GDP increased 3.5 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter, after declining in five of the preceding six quarters. The gain marked the largest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2007. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke issued the following statement in response to the news.

“Today’s numbers indicate that the tough decisions this administration made to rescue the economy from the abyss were correct. We’re headed in the right direction, and even though there are still too many Americans out of work and still much work to be done, without the action taken in the early days of this administration, the pain families are feeling today would be much worse.”