Atlanta Fed holds U.S. fourth quarter GDP growth view at 3.6 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is on track to grow at a 3.6 percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter as upbeat data on domestic durable goods orders were offset by mixed readings on home sales, the Atlanta Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

The latest fourth-quarter GDP estimate was unchanged from the growth rate calculated on Nov. 17, the Atlanta Fed's GDP Now forecast model showed.

The forecast contribution from equipment investment and inventory investment to fourth-quarter economic growth increased to 0.38 percentage point from 0.32 point and to 0.56 point from 0.50 percentage point, respectively, after the release of the October durable goods report on Wednesday, the Atlanta Fed said.

Orders for durable goods rose 4.8 percent last month, stronger than the 1.5 percent increase forecast among economists polled by Reuters, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.

However, the forecast on fourth-quarter residential investment growth fell to 7.1 percent from 10.8 percent following home sales data for October, the Atlanta Fed said.

U.S. existing home sales grew 2 percent in October to an annual pace of 5.6 million units, the highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department said new home sales unexpectedly fell by 1.9 percent to an annualized rate of 563,000 units last month.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chris Reese)

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