US economic growth dwindles in third quarter; outlook less upbeat

A trailer is filled with soybeans at a farm in Buda, Illinois, US. [Photo: Reuters]

WASHINGTON -The US economy slows ed less than expected in the third quarter as a tariff-related drop in soybean exports was partially offset by the strongest consumer spending in nearly four years, keeping growth on track to hit the Trump administration’s 3 percent target this year.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.5 percent annualized rate also supported by a surge in inventory investment and solid government spending, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its first estimate of third-quarter GDP growth.