WASHINGTON - US economic growth was revised up to an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the third quarter this year from an initial estimate of 2 percent, the Commerce Department announced Thursday.

The growth pace was a welcome acceleration from 1.3 percent in the second quarter and was the 13th straight quarter of economic growth.

The revision mainly reflected stronger business stockpiles before the holiday shopping season and a better-than-expected export performance in the July-September period.

Real personal consumption expenditures increased 1.4 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent in the second quarter.

Personal consumption accounts for some 70 percent of the total economic activity in the world's largest economy.