One swallow does not a summer make; nor does a single quarter of economic growth guarantee the recession’s end. Even so, the third-quarter US gross domestic product figures – annualised growth was 3.5 per cent – are heartening. Far from signalling that the time has come to launch exit strategies, however, they also reveal that it would be madness to withdraw stimulus measures right now.

The rebound of the world’s largest economy was no surprise, but it was stronger than most forecasters expected. The detailed breakdowns make clear that the expansion was broad-based: virtually all components of output grew, or shrank at a much slower pace than in the previous quarter.