Strong consumer spending helped the U.S. economy grow at an annual pace of 3.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, beating economists' expectations.

Analysts had been projecting fourth-quarter growth of three per cent.

The fourth-quarter pace was a rebound from the 2.6 per cent annualized growth rate seen in the second quarter and the 2 per cent pace of the third quarter.

Consumer spending grew by 4.4 per cent in the October-December period, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The brisker spending by consumers helped offset a 19.2 per cent drop in investment in home building. The fall in residential building — the biggest in 15 years — cut 1.16 percentage points off the fourth-quarter growth rate.

For all of 2006, U.S. economic activity expanded by 3.4 per cent. That was up from the 3.2 per cent growth seen in 2005.