WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the third quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday in a sharply revised report.
The department said a month ago that the gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent from the second quarter to the third.
The revised figure beat expectations. Economists had predicted the second of three estimates of the GDP would show growth at 3.2 percent following the second quarter's growth rate of 2.5 percent.
The department attributed the revision to a 1.68 percent point contribution from business inventories that came into focus as new data became available. In the first GDP estimate, business inventories were listed as adding 0.83 percentage points to the GDP.
The second GDP estimate is released along with corporate earnings for the quarter. The report said corporate profits after tax rose 5.8 percent quarter to quarter, after rising 2.8 percent in the second quarter.
