Sales of the new iPhone could add between a quarter and half a percentage point to annualized economic growth in the fourth quarterJ.P. Morgan JPM -1.39%’s chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli estimates. That could help to cushion the U.S. economy from other risks in the final months of the year.
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The bottom line: The new iPhone sales could boost GDP by $3.2 billion in the fourth quarter, or $12.8 billion at an annual rate. That is an increase of 0.33 percentage point in the annualized rate of GDP growth. It could be even higher, he says. Even a third of a percentage point would limit the downside risk to J.P. Morgan’s fourth-quarter growth projection of 2%.
Should this come to pass, it could actually help re-elect Barack Obama.








