We are very pleased to say the American economy is doing quite well. In the third quarter of 2024, the nation’s GDP — that’s the value of all the goods and services it produces minus the value of the goods and services used in production — grew by 2.8%, a very healthy rate, so says the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a unit of the U.S. Commerce Department that serves as “an independent, principal federal statistical agency that promotes a better understanding of the U.S. economy by providing timely, relevant, and accurate economic accounts data in an objective and cost-effective manner.”