Economic growth in the U.S. was softer than originally thought in the third quarter, as consumers reined in their spending and home building slowed.
The Commerce Department reported its final estimate of gross domestic product - the value of goods and services in the U.S. - came in at a rate of 2.0 percent in the quarter, down from the previous estimate of 2.2 percent and the second quarter's 2.6 percent.
Commerce said the increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, equipment and software, nonresidential structures, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a negative contribution from residential fixed investment.
Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
Final sales of computers contributed 0.07 percentage point to the third-quarter growth in real GDP after contributing 0.04 percentage point to the second-quarter growth. Motor vehicle output contributed 0.76 percentage point to the third-quarter growth in real GDP after subtracting 0.31 percentage point from the second-quarter growth.
Meanwhile, the price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter, 0.1 percentage point more than in the preliminary estimate; this index increased 4.0 percent in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter, compared with 2.9 percent in the second.