(KUNA) -- Commenting on data showing the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 2 percent in the third quarter, Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, on Friday said considerable work remains before the U.S. economy fully recovers.While the GDP data marked the fifth straight quarter of positive growth, and the U.S. economy continues to recover from the deepest recession since World War II, "faster growth is needed to bring down the unemployment rate more quickly," Goolsbee said. Some key components of GDP continued to expand in the third quarter, he noted.
Consumer expenditures on goods and services rose at an annual rate of 2.6 percent, up slightly from the second quarter, while fixed investment (nonresidential structures, equipment and software, and housing investments) grew at an annual rate of 0.8 percent.
Business investment in equipment and software increased by 12 percent, the fourth consecutive quarter of "solid growth," indicating continued expansion of investments by private firms, Goolsbee said. Inventory investment contributed 1.4 percentage points to GDP growth, slightly less than the average in the last four quarters, while residential investment declined.
"Given the depth and severity of the recession, considerable work remains before our economy is fully recovered," Goolsbee said. "Therefore, it is essential that we take the additional targeted actions that the President has recommended to further stimulate growth and job creation, such as extending tax cuts for the middle class, investing in our infrastructure, providing tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest here at home, and promoting exports abroad."