WASHINGTON — Final real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 1.8% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.
The gain was below the preliminary estimate of 2.0% for the third quarter, but better than the final 1.3% annual rate of growth reported for the second quarter. It was also below the 2.0% median increase projected by economists.
The increase primarily reflected gains of 1.7% in personal consumption expenditures and 15.7% in nonresidential fixed investment.
