The US economy has likely experienced record growth in the third quarter as more than $3 trillion in federal pandemic relief spending fueled historic consumer spending, but the deep scars from the Covid-19 recession could take a year or more to heal, Reuters reported.

With five days remaining to Election Day and trailing in most national opinion polls, President Donald Trump will probably seize on the stunning rebound in GDP as a sign of recovery following the deepest decline in at least 73 years.

No one disputes that the Commerce Department’s report Thursday on gross domestic product - one of the last major economic scorecards before next week’s presidential election - will be one for the history books. Nonetheless, it will do little to mitigate the human tragedy inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, with tens of millions Americans still unemployed and more than 222,000 dead.