Third-Quarter 4.1% GDP Rate Is Highest in 18 Months

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he U.S. economy grew at a 4.1% annual rate growth in the third quarter, lower than the 4.3% rate initially reported in November, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The gross domestic product growth rate was the fastest in a year and a half, the Associated Press reported. The GDP report was the government's third and final report for the third quarter.

The growth rate topped the second-quarter growth rate of 3.3% but was just below economists’ estimates of 4.3% growth, Bloomberg reported.

The quarter was the tenth straight in which the GDP was greater than 3%, the longest such string since the 13 quarters that ended in the first quarter of 1986.