WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the text of a statement Friday by Alan
Krueger, chairman of the President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers,
on the advance third quarter GDP data:

Today’s report shows that the economy posted its thirteenth straight
quarter of positive growth, as real GDP (the total amount of goods and services
produced in the country) grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the third quarter
of this year, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis.

Over the last thirteen quarters, the economy has expanded by 7.2 percent
overall, and the private components of GDP have grown by 10.1 percent. While we
have more work to do, together with other economic indicators, this report
provides further evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction.

It is important to recognize that GDP is made up of various components.
Personal consumption expenditures, for example, increased by 2.0 percent at an
annual rate in 2012:Q3, as compared with 1.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Residential investment increased by 14.4 percent last quarter and has increased
for six quarters in a row, its longest streak since 2004-2005.

Federal defense spending rose 13.0 percent, federal nondefense spending
rose 3.0 percent, and state and local government purchases were essentially
unchanged. The severe drought, which has affected more than half of the country,
subtracted 0.4 percentage point from overall GDP growth.

To strengthen economic growth and increase job creation, President Obama
has proposed to Congress a plan that would help State and local governments
retain and hire teachers and first responders, would assist the construction
sector and economy of tomorrow by rebuilding and modernizing our Nation’s
infrastructure, and would give small businesses tax cuts to encourage them to
increase payroll.

President Obama also proposed extending tax cuts to protect middle class
families and virtually every small business owner from getting a tax increase at
the beginning of next year. Extending these tax cuts would provide more
certainty for the economy for 98 percent of American families and 97 percent of
small business owners.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MGU$$$,MFU$$$,MAUDS$]