U.S. third quarter GDP revised higher

(Dec. 20, 2012) -- The third estimate of third-quarter 2012 annualized GDP growth was revised to 3.1 percent from the 2.7 percent that was reported in the second estimate. Jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 15 rose as expected to 361,000 relative to 344,000 for the previous week. Nominal retail sales in Canada increased by 0.7 percent in October 2012 following September's 0.2 percent gain. Expectations had been for 0.2 percent monthly increase, RBC Economics reported.