Consumer spending boosts Q3 growth

Washington

The US economy expanded at a revised 2 per cent annualised rate in the third quarter, buoyed by consumer spending as businesses struggled to sell to overseas customers battered by sluggish growth.

The gain in gross domestic product (GDP) followed a 3.9 per cent advance in the second quarter, Commerce Department figures showed on Tuesday. The median forecast of 76 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.9 per cent increase compared with the previously reported 2.1 per cent pace.