The U.S. economy grew more than expected in the 3rd quarter of this year as companies ramped up inventories, a pickup in spending at local and state governments and an increase in foreign trade. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 2.8%, above the 2.5% recorded in the 2nd quarter and above the 1.9% expected. However, within the report it showed that consumer spending, the main driver of the U.S. economy, fell to 1.5% from 1.8% and was the slowest rate in three years.
The labor market continues to muddle along as employers continue to lay off workers at a brisk pace. The Weekly Initial Jobs report showed that 336,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment benefits in the latest week, just below the 340,000 expected and remain near the 340,000 level in the past month.
The much anticipated Initial Public Offering of social media site Twitter debuted this morning on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares of Twitter, ticker symbol TWTR, opened at $45.10 a share after being priced at $26 last night, making it a 73% increase. The company raised $1.8 billion in the offering and at $45 a share, the company is valued at more than $31 billion.
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