US economic output rose at an annual rate of five per cent during the third quarter of 2014, the Commerce Department said, as it sharply revised an earlier estimate of 3.9 per cent.

The jump in growth followed a second quarter rate of 4.6 per cent after falling last winter that was exacerbated by unusually severe weather.

Growth during the most recent quarter was bolstered by robust consumer and businesses spending and was the fastest in over a decade, providing the strongest evidence yet that the economic recovery is finally gaining traction more than five years after it began.

Unemployment has been steadily falling and payrolls grew by more than 300,000 last month, which is significantly better than was expected.

Across the Atlantic, in a second round of voting, Greek lawmakers failed again to approve the Prime Minister’s choice of President, Stavros Dimas.

Should Dilmas fail to secure enough support in the third vote tomorrow, a general election will be held early in 2015. That would jeopardise Greece’s participation in the international bailout programme. Faced with such a prospect, investors are concerned that the left-wing Syriza party, which has pledged to renegotiate the terms of the country’s €240 billion bailout, could be elected to power.

Finally, UK gross domestic product in the third quarter of this year was 0.7 per cent higher than in the previous quarter, matching an earlier estimate.

That was the seventh straight quarter of growth and the highest in more than four years.

Falling oil prices and slowing inflation are supporting domestic demand, the main driver of Britain’s economy this year.

From a year earlier, growth was 2.6 per cent higher than in the same period in 2013, down from an earlier estimate of three per cent.

The downward revision in the annual GDP growth rate was due to lower government and business investment than first estimated, as well as higher imports.

This article was compiled by Bank of Valletta plc for general information purposes only.