US economy grows by most in a decade on consumer-spending gain

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A little Christmas cheer for companies: the US economy expanded at its fastest pace in a decade in the third quarter, with GDP growing at an annual rate of 5% – well above previous expectations of 3.9%. Higher employment rates and lower fuel prices are expected to trigger more consumer spending. However, notes Bloomberg, other aspects of GDP, including inventories and trade, are unlikely to have kept going at this pace in the last quarter. The economy grew at an average pace of 1.3% in the first half, while 2013 saw an average rate of 2.2%.