US growth quickens to 3.4% in the third quarter, led by inventories and computer equipment

US real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the third quarter of 2026, up from 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) advance estimate. The BEA said the pickup mainly reflected investment and an upturn in government spending, while exports fell.

What happened

The BEA said real GDP, the output of goods and services adjusted for price changes, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.4% for July, August and September. That is equivalent to 0.8% on a quarterly basis. The second quarter's rate was 2.2%, so growth accelerated by 1.2 percentage points.

Increases in investment, consumer spending and government spending were partly offset by a decrease in exports, the BEA said. Imports, which are subtracted in the GDP calculation, increased more than in the second quarter.

Within investment, the BEA pointed to private inventories, led by wholesale trade and manufacturing, and to equipment, led by information processing equipment, mainly computers and peripheral equipment. Consumer spending rose on both services and goods. In services, health care led, followed by food services and accommodations. In goods, the increase was led by other nondurable goods, mainly prescription drugs.

Government spending rose because of federal nondefense consumption. The BEA said that pattern mainly reflected sales of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: sales were smaller than in the second quarter, and such sales are deducted from government consumption expenditures. It added that the oil sold appears in other GDP components, so there is no direct effect on GDP.

The decrease in exports mainly reflected goods, led by petroleum and related products, the BEA said.

Why it matters

Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the BEA's measure that adds consumer spending and private fixed investment and leaves out inventories, trade and government, rose at a 4.9% annual rate, compared with 4.6% in the second quarter. That is a faster pace than the headline figure, which includes the contributions of imports and exports.

The BEA's inflation gauges slowed. The price index for gross domestic purchases rose 3.0%, against 5.6% in the second quarter. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the measure the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% inflation goal, rose at a 2.1% annual rate, after 5.0%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index rose 2.5%, after 3.3%. The slowdown in the headline PCE rate is 2.9 percentage points.

Current-dollar GDP, which is not adjusted for price changes, rose at a 5.6% annual rate.

What to watch

The BEA is scheduled to publish the second estimate of third-quarter GDP, together with corporate profits, on November 25, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET. If the revised source data change the pace of inventory building or imports, the 3.4% figure could move in either direction.