The US economy grew from July through September at a 4 percent annual rate, faster than the government reported last month and three times the previous quarter's pace.
The strongest consumer spending this year accounted for three-quarters of the increase in gross domestic product, the total value of all goods and services produced in the nation, the Commerce Department said.
The rate of economic growth compares with an initial estimate of 3.1 percent and also reflects the biggest increase in inventories since the fourth quarter of 2000.
The economy grew at a 1.3 percent rate from April to June.
Growth is probably slowing in the current quarter, evidence the economic rebound is having trouble gaining momentum, economists said. Consumer spending has since slowed.
"There is definitely a choppiness in the recovery pattern, but it's a recovery nonetheless," said Steven Wieting, an economist at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, before the report.
"We shouldn't expect a real snap-back type of recovery because we managed to have a very modest downturn."
The economy started expanding in the fourth quarter of last year and company profits have followed suit.
After-tax corporate profits rose 2.1 percent in the third quarter, the biggest increase since the second quarter of last year. In the second quarter, profits rose 1.7 percent.
Companies added inventories at a US$15.5 billion annual pace in the third quarter compared with last month's estimate of US$1.9 billion.
The restocking accounted for 0.45 percentage point of growth during the three months. Stockpiles increased by US$4.9 billion in the second quarter.
The need to add to inventories is one reason the economy will probably continue growing in coming months, economists said.
Inventories "are lean enough that it's going to be very difficult to get a contraction in the economy" because production will need to keep growing to meet demand, Wieting said.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, grew at a 4.1 percent annual pace last quarter, down from a 4.2 percent estimate last month. The rise, the biggest since the fourth quarter of last year, was led by a 23.1 percent increase in spending on durable goods such as automobiles.
Consumer spending rose at a 1.8 percent pace in the April to June period.
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