Official figures show that the US economy grew at a much slower pace than initially thought in the third quarter of this year, affected by weak business investment.
The Commerce Department's final estimate showed gross domestic product grew at a 2.2% annual rate instead of the 2.8% it reported last month. Analysts had not expected any change to the figure.
It was still the fastest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2007 and ended four straight quarters of declines in output. The resumption of growth in the July-September period probably ended the most brutal recession since the 1930s.
Growth was boosted by government stimulus programmes, including the popular car scrappage scheme and tax credit for first-time home buyers.
But business spending in the third quarter was weaker than the government had estimated last month. Business investment fell at a 5.9% rate instead of 4.1%, the department said.
A deeper than initially thought slump in the construction of non-residential buildings and stronger demand for imports, which overshadowed the growth in exports, held back growth in the third quarter, the report showed.
Non-residential building activity dropped 18.4% in the third quarter rather than 15.1%, a reflection of the troubles in the commercial property market.
Imports jumped 21.3%, the biggest gain since the first quarter of 1984, instead of 20.8%, while exports grew 17.8%. That left a trade gap which lopped off 0.81 percentage points from GDP in the last quarter.
While consumer spending was slightly revised down, it helped to offset the drag on growth from a steep drop in business investment. Consumer spending, which normally accounts for about 70% of US economic activity, grew at a 2.8% annual pace in the third quarter rather than the 2.9% estimated in November.
Businesses also liquidated accumulated stocks of unsold goods more aggressively than previously thought. Business inventories fell $139.2 billion in the third quarter, rather than the $133.4 billion the government estimated in November.
US existing home sales jump in November
Separate figures showed that sales of US existing homes surged 7.4% in November to the highest level since February 2007, as buyers rushed to take advantage of tax credits.
Industry group the National Association of Realtors said sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units in November from 6.09 million in October. This is 44.1% higher than the depressed levels of November 2008 and best since February 2007.
The group said buying was sparked by a rush of first-time buyers to close sales before the original November 30 deadline government tax credits. Congress later voted to extend the credit and expand it to include other home purchases as well.
