The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace since the summer of 2003 in the third quarter, the government reported Tuesday in the strongest sign yet that growth is accelerating. The Commerce Department sharply revised upward its estimate of third-quarter growth to a 5 percent annual rate from the previously reported 3.9 percent. Much of the strength came from consumer spending on healthcare and business spending on structures and computer software. It was the fastest quarterly growth in more than 11 years. It followed a strong 4.6 percent annual growth rate in the April-June quarter, meaning the economy now has experienced the two strongest consecutive quarters of growth since 2003. Highlighting strength in the economy, growth in third-quarter domestic demand was revised up to a 4.1 percent pace instead of the previously reported 3.2 percent pace. It was the fastest since the second quarter of 2010. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two thirds of U.S. economic activity, grew at a 3.2 percent pace, the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2013, instead of the previously reported 2.2 percent rate. The pace of growth likely slowed in the current quarter. Most economists believe growth will be about 2.5 percent in the October-December period, and about 3 percent in 2015, which would be the strongest since the economy expanded 3.3 percent in 2005, two years before the Great Recession began.
