US economy grew 'faster than thought'

The US economy grew at a faster pace than initially 

thought, figures show.

The economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.5% in the

July-to-September period, up from an earlier estimate of 2%, 

the Commerce Department said.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve said it would pump $600bn (£373bn) into the economy to try to boost the economic recovery.

Stronger spending by US shoppers, particularly on cars and "

big ticket" items, contributed to the upgrade.

A rise in exports also helped boost growth.

But the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.6%.

'Sales momentum'

The upwards revision was slightly bigger than analysts had 

forecast, with most expecting a figure of 2.4%.

The third quarter's growth marked a rise from the 1.7% seen 

in the second quarter.

Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight, said 

the revision was "good news".

"It's better than expected. A little bit more momentum in 

sales," he said. "There was more business spending on 
 
software, that was one of the surprises, and consumer 

spending was better than expected.

"I thought inventories were going to be revised up, but they 

weren't. You had positive surprises in spending to outweigh 

inventories. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the 

fourth quarter."