Mexico's economy grows

Mexico's economic growth quickened in the third quarter, beating estimates as services grew at the fastest pace in two years. The national statistics agency on Tuesday said gross domestic product rose 1.3 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.
That beat analysts' expectations of 0.80 percent expansion, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll. The third-quarter expansion was faster than the upwardly revised 1.28 percent seen in the second quarter. Quarterly manufacturing activity grew 0.54 percent, less than half the pace seen in the second quarter, while the services sector expanded at a 1.6s3 percent clip, the fastest since the third quarter in 2009.
Mexico's GDP in the third quarter also grew 4.5 percent versus a year earlier, picking up its pace from a downwardly revised 3.2 percent in the second quarter. The median forecast in a Reuters poll was for a 3.7 percent expansion in the third quarter versus a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Mexican economic activity index data from September pointed to surprisingly solid 0.95 percent momentum in the final month of the third quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected economic activity to expand 0.78 percent in September after August numbers showed the biggest drop in 1-1/2 years. Compared to a year ago, growth was 4.52 percent while analysts anticipated that number would be 3.56 percent.