Economy grows at slightly faster pace in 3Q

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy grew slightly faster last summer as Americans spent a little more freely. Yet it remains too weak to reduce high unemployment just as Democrats face deep losses in Tuesday's elections.

The Commerce Department said today that the economy expanded at a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. It marked an improvement from the feeble 1.7 percent growth in the April-June quarter.

Consumers helped boost last quarter's economic growth with 2.6 percent growth in spending. That was better than the second quarter's 2.2 percent growth rate and marked the biggest quarterly increase since a 4.1 percent gain at the end of 2006 before the recession hit.