3rd-quarter growth revised to 2 percent

November 23, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

MarketWatch

WASHINGTON

The U.S. economy grew at a slower pace than originally estimated in the third quarter, mainly because companies reduced inventories and did not invest as much.

The Commerce Department cut its calculation of gross domestic product to 2.0 percent growth in the July-to-September period from an initial reading of 2.5 percent. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the government to trim its estimate to 2.3 percent.

Still, the 2.0 percent growth rate was the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2010. Most economists predict the U.S. will grow even faster in the final three months of this year — 2.5 percent based on the latest MarketWatch forecast.

The economy grew only at a 1.3 percent rate in the 2011 second quarter and 0.4 percent in the first quarter.

The government’s second estimate of GDP includes more data from the private sector that was not fully available earlier, such as corporate profits, inventory levels and trade data. As a result, it paints a more-accurate picture of U.S. growth.

Though the economy accelerated in late summer, the unemployment rate still stood at 9.0 percent in October.