Third-Quarter GDP Rises 2% as Consumer Spending Grows

The U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 2% annual rate in the third quarter as consumer spending rose, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The level topped the 1.7% GDP growth rate in the second quarter and matched economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy, rose at a 2.6% rate, the best quarter of the recovery that began in June 2009, Bloomberg said.

Friday’s GDP figure is the first of three to be put out by Commerce.