By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The U.S. economy grew faster than first thought in the summer, as strong consumer spending offset the drag from a rundown of corporate inventories.
Gross domestic product rose at an annualized pace of 2.9%, rather than the originally reported 2.6%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Wednesday. Economists had forecast a smaller upward revision of only 0.1 percentage point to 2.7%.
The BEA said real consumer spending, which rose an annualized 1.7%, was the biggest factor behind the revision, along with non-residential private investment. The figures also got a lift from a fall in imports, as U.S. retailers frantically dialed back their orders, having failed to see the looming slowdown caused by the highest inflation in 40 years.