Third-quarter U.S. growth climbs by 2.5%
Third-quarter U.S. growth climbs by 2.5% (by Jeffry Bartash)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy expanded at a much faster pace in the third quarter, growing 2.5% as consumers spent more on big-ticket items such as autos and businesses investment surged. Growth almost doubled the 1.3% rate of the second quarter. The U.S. was forecast to expand by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to a MarketWatch survey of economists. Consumer spending climbed 2.4%, the highest rate since the end of 2010, and business investment shot up 16.3%. Inventories, which subtract from gross domestic product, rose 1.9%. Excluding inventories, final sales of goods and services increased 3.6%. Inflation, as measured by the price index for gross domestic purchases, fell to 2.0% in the third quarter from 3.3% in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy, the index declined to 1.8% from 2.7%.