U.S. 3Q GDP revised down

The U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in two years during the third quarter, but the revised annual growth rate of 2.2% was much slower than initially reported, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. The revisions to third-quarter GDP were in three major areas: Business investment, consumer spending, and inventories.

U.S. real gross domestic product increased for the first time since the spring of 2008, boosted by higher consumer spending, a rebound in investments in homes, a slower pace of inventory reduction, more exports, and robust government spending.