The U.S. economy grew an annualized 2.6 percent in real terms in the July to September period after contracting for the first six months of this year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The third-quarter figure, in terms of the inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, beat the average market forecast of a 2.4 percent expansion. The data came out as fears of a recession linger amid the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes to tackle inflation. Private consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of the world's largest economy, rose 1.4 percent after a 2.0 percent increase in...
