For the first two quarters of 2022, Gross Domestic Product fell, meaning Joe Biden and his Democrat pals had steered the nation into recession — despite Leftmedia attempts to change the long-understood definition of what constitutes a recession. Well, October Surprise! GDP in the third quarter grew by a seemingly healthy and “better than expected” 2.6%.

Millions of Americans will be pleased to have some positive economic news for a change.

But there are some dark clouds in this silver lining and all is not as it seems. Yeah, we know — “thanks, Debbie Downer.”

“Consumer spending, the economy’s main engine, cooled from July to September compared with the previous quarter,” reports The Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s political analyst Jason Riley noted: “The big red flag is consumer spending, which is down. Consumer spending is 2/3 of our economy. Also mortgage interest rates, a year ago 3% now over 7% — the highest in 20 years.”

Higher interest rates are hurting big-ticket items like autos and homes; prices for houses are plummeting at the fastest pace in over a decade.

EJ Antoni of The Heritage Foundation said, “Consumer spending and business investment combined actually contributed -0.62 percentage points to GDP.” So why did GDP grow? Antoni says, “All of GDP growth last quarter was due to [a] decline in imports and an increase in exports.” That, and a lot of well-timed government spending.

Political analyst Ed Morrissey explains: “Exports up 14.4%, imports down -6.9%. This is not a normal status and we can likely expect another big swing to the opposite in Q4.” Morrissey adds, “Businesses and investors don’t appear to have much confidence in future growth.” That’s because, for the second straight quarter, private investment declined.

Indeed, Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, warns: “Exports will soon fade and domestic demand is getting crushed under the weight of higher interest rates. We expect the economy to enter a mild recession in the first half of next year.”

As for the trade shift, it could be explained by two things: The supply chain is still so gummed up that goods simply aren’t coming in as they were, and consumers are unable to afford as many things as they could when Donald Trump was president.

Ominously, Lindsey Piegza, chief economist with Stifel Financial, offered this assessment: “When I look at today’s [GDP] report I caution against looking at this as an indication of upward momentum. This is likely a static temporary increase. … It’s likely the only positive quarter we will see for quite some some time going forward.”

Aside from telling us after another wretched inflation report that the economy is “strong as hell,” Joe Biden says he and his party just need more time for their policies to finally fix things. “I’m optimistic,” he said of tamping down inflation. “It’s going to take some time. I appreciate the frustration of the American people.”

That’s a far cry from telling us 15 months ago that inflation was “temporary.”

He hopped on Twitter yesterday to Biden-splain why painfully high gas prices are actually good news because they’re a bit better than June. “Gas prices have decreased for 2 weeks, and are down by more than $1.20 since their June peak,” he said. “That’s saving American families with two cars about $130 per month on average.” Gas is also costing American families a lot more than when Donald Trump was president.

As comforting as it may be that he “appreciates” our frustration, his policies are largely to blame for the whopping 8.2% inflation rate, high fuel prices, and a struggling economy. From shutting down pipelines and drilling permits to redistributing trillions of inflationary dollars to issuing umpteen burdensome regulations, Biden and his crack team of economic novices have taken a wrecking ball to what was a roaring recovery from the pandemic malaise.

The Democrat fanboys at the Associated Press assure us that “Biden zeroes in on economic message as campaign winds down.” But the truth is, rather than honestly address the economy — never mind righting the ship — he’s busy running around telling us we need to ban guns to save our kids and we need to kill our babies all the way up until birth to save women’s “rights.” And when it’s not those things, President Unity™ is scaring everyone about the “threat to democracy” posed by Trump and the “MAGA Republican” “semi-fascists.”

Republicans, he now laughingly claims, plan to “drive up inflation” with their “failed economic vision.” In the alternate reality he inhabits, today’s Q3 GDP report provided “further evidence that our economic recovery is continuing to power forward.” By contrast, he insists, “Republicans have been rooting for a downturn.”

No, Republicans, conservatives, and anyone with their eyes open have simply been observing the downturn Biden created. Third-quarter growth is good news, but temporary. It does not assuage our concern that the economy is in decline. And while Biden and his Democrats want to take credit for any sliver of good economic news, the fact is that most American companies are doing everything they can to keep balance sheets positive despite the Biden administration’s reckless economic policies.

As for the GDP’s political implications, Jason Riley concludes: “It’s not going to change the political narrative between now and election day. The Democrats thought they could run on Donald Trump and abortion, voters are concerned about the economy and crime. Nothing in this report is going to change that narrative.”

(Updated)