U.S. Economy Grew at 3.5% Annual Pace in Third Quarter --- The government reported on Thursday that the nation’s economic output rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, offering a strong sign that the economy’s plodding growth may be picking up speed. -- The higher-than-expected bump in gross domestic product — a measure of all the goods and services produced — was driven in part by an unusual spurt of federal spending, concentrated in defense, combined with robust exports and investment in business equipment. -- “This is the strongest six-month interval we’ve had in 10 years,” said Carl R. Tannenbaum, chief economist at the Northern Trust Company. “The pace of the expansion has clearly increased.” -- “I don’t think it’s going to be hard to maintain a growth of 3 percent for the fourth quarter,” he added, echoing several other forecasters. -- The performance of the economy during the summer months of July, August and September followed the second quarter’s even more impressive 4.6 percent annualized growth rate. This sustained expansion was welcomed after a bitter winter that contributed to a disappointing 2.1 percent decrease for the first three months of the year. -- But the enthusiasm was tempered. John Canally, chief economic strategist for LPL Financial, called the latest gross domestic product figures confirmation that “we’re doing O.K. here.” -- That was also the conclusion voiced on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, which cited a strengthening labor market and decreasing concerns about the slow pace of inflation as reasons to close the books on its six-year, multitrillion-dollar bond-buying spree. -- More, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/business/economy/us-economy-q3-2014-gdp.html?hpw&rref=business&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0