US economy grows at a 3.4% annual pace, fastest in a year

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.4% annualized rate from July through September, its fastest pace in a year and up from 2.2% in the prior quarter. GDP is the broad measure of a country’s output; the annualized figure turns one quarter’s roughly 0.8% gain into the rate that would result if that pace lasted a full year. Households kept spending, while companies stepped up investment and government spending also added to growth; weaker exports offset part of the increase. The result points to solid domestic demand, though this is an initial estimate and later updates can revise both the headline number and its drivers.