Gross Domestic Product increases 2.6% in third quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports Thursday morning the country's Gross Domestic Product increased 2.6% in the third quarter, after contracting in the first two quarters of this year. 

The increase exceeded analysts' expectations of 2.4% growth for the July-to-September period.

GDP is the total market value of all the finished goods and services produced in a country over a specific time.

Analysts also said the growth should not interpreted as a sign recession fears are over.

"Is the economy out of the woods? No," Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities America and former Trump White House economic adviser, reportedly recently told clients. "The economy frequently generates healthy gains in real GDP around the onset of recession. Indeed, this has happened in four out of the last six downturns."

The report comes amid inflation, higher interests rates and a cooling mortgage-home sales industry, which analysts say collectively point to a recession, likely in early 2023.