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rate: Luke Bartholomew, fixed income investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in London, said the US economy was "roughly on track" after growth had reached an average of just 1.1 percent in the first half of 2016. "It a natural bounce back following a pretty underwhelming year so far," he told the news agency Reuters, according to Deutsche Welle. Consumer spending still supported the economy in the third quarter, even as the pace slowed from the second quarter robust 4.3-percent rate. The rise in US gross domestic product was stronger than expected by analysts, who had forecast a third-quarter growth rate of 2.5 percent. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, increased at a 2.1-percent rate. Farm exports drive expansion The biggest quarterly jump in exports since late 2013 drove the surprisingly strong expansion. Spending was held back by a decline in purchases of goods which are not meant to last long. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.