The U.S. economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in ⁠the third quarter, the government said Thursday, while corporate profits were also revised higher.

Gross domestic product increased at an upwardly revised 4.4% annualized rate, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2023, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic ‍Analysis said in its updated estimate of third-quarter GDP on ‍Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP would be unrevised at a 4.3% pace. The economy grew at a ⁠3.8% pace in the second quarter.

The slight upward revision to growth in the July-September period reflected upgrades to exports and business investment. Imports, which ​are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised up.

Consumer spending and a smaller trade deficit were the key drivers of GDP growth in the third ‍quarter.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, grew at ⁠a 3.5% rate in the third quarter.

But a measure of underlying domestic demand, final sales to private domestic purchasers, increased at a 2.9% rate, revised down from the previously estimated 3.0% growth pace.

Economists said activity has assumed what ⁠they termed a K-shape pattern, with ​higher-income households and big ⁠corporations doing the heavy lifting.

They blamed this phenomenon on President Donald Trump's policies, including aggressive ‍import tariffs, which have raised prices.

A stock market boom and still-high home prices have cushioned upper-income households ‌against inflation while lower- and middle-income households face a limited ability to substitute purchases, economists said.

Similarly, large companies have sufficient resources to offset the rising costs from ⁠import ​duties, they added.

In contrast, ‍small businesses are barely staying above water, and are also struggling with a reduction in low-cost labor supply amid an immigration ‍crackdown, economists said.

Profits from current production increased at a $175.6 billion rate in the third quarter, an upward revision of $9.5 billion.