By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in two years during the third quarter, but the revised annual growth rate of 2.2% was much slower than initially reported, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. U.S. real gross domestic product increased for the first time since the spring of 2008, boosted by higher consumer spending, a rebound in investments in homes, a slower pace of inventory reduction, more exports, and robust government spending. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting only a minor revision to 2.7% in the third estimate. The revisions to third-quarter GDP were in three major areas: Business investment, consumer spending, and inventories.
