The economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter of this year, just under the 3% rate the quarter before, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday morning in a second estimate of gross domestic product.

GDP growth has remained relatively robust this year despite headwinds like high interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

The economy expanded at a 3% rate in the second quarter and just 1.4% in the first. The BEA will release its final third-quarter GDP estimate in the coming weeks.

Consumer spending helped push up the headline GDP rate. Growth was also driven in part by government spending. Both of those propped up GDP as residential investment fell amid a flagging housing market.

The economy was the biggest issue for voters during this election cycle, with Republicans emphasizing voter discontent and Democrats trying to reframe the focus on encouraging economic developments — such as resilient GDP growth. President-elect Donald Trump won in a decisive victory against Vice President Kamala Harris in part because of the economy.

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Inflation and high interest rates have made life more unaffordable for consumers. The inflation rate, as tracked by the consumer price index, is at 2.6% for the year ending in October.

Because of the higher inflation, the Fed was forced to raise interest rates to their highest level in decades. That adds to consumer pain because it makes it more expensive to take on debt and take out loans and makes homebuying more expensive by driving up mortgage rates.