The US economy grew at a scorching 7.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the strongest pace in nearly two decades. Consumers spent with abandon and businesses ramped up investment, compelling new evidence of an economic resurgence.
The increase in gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy's performance, in the July-September quarter was more than double the 3.3 percent rate registered in the second quarter, the US Commerce Department reported yesterday.
The 7.2 percent pace marked the best showing since the first quarter of 1984.
It exceeded analysts' forecasts for a 6 percent growth rate for third-quarter GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced within the US.
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