The US economy grew somewhat faster in the
third quarter, reaching an annual rate of 2 per cent, the Commerce
Department reported Friday in its initial estimate of gross domestic
product.
The final estimate of second-quarter growth was an annualized 1.3
per cent.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis attributed
the faster pace of expansion to higher consumer spending, lower
imports, increased housing construction and a jump in federal
government spending.
Declines in exports and business investment and shrinking business
inventories weighed on growth in the July-September period.
A survey by the Bloomberg news agency of 86 economists had
produced an average forecast for the third-quarter growth of an
annual rate of 1.8 per cent.
