U.S. gross domestic product grew at a robust 5.0% pace in the third quarter, its strongest growth in more than a decade and up from an earlier estimate of 3.9%, theCommerce Department said on Tuesday. That tops the second quarters 4.6% growth rate, and represents the best quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2003, when GDP grew at a 6.9% rate.

The report upgraded estimates for fixed nonresidential investment, a proxy for business spending, and personal spending, especially on services like health care.

The agencys early estimates for spending on services are subject to sometimes-major revisions based on new data. The latest example is todays GDP report. Last month, the agency said spending on services rose at a 1.2% pace in the third quarter. Now, it says services spending climbed 2.5%. Health-care spending alone contributed 0.52 percentage point to growth, up from an earlier estimate of 0.22 percentage point.

Economic output in the third quarter climbed 2.7% from a year earlier, up only slightly from 2.6% annual growth in the second quarter.

The U.S. economy has experienced robust growth since the spring, recovering from the first quarters unexpectedbut fleetingGDP contraction. The nation has seen its best year of hiring since 1999. Those signs of strength stand in contrast to worries about a slowdown in other parts of the world, including China, Japan and members of the eurozone.

Still, the weak first quarter will weigh on full-year growth in the U.S., and many economists expect somewhat slower growth in the fourth quarter. Federal Reserve policy makers expect GDP growth of 2.3% to 2.4% in 2014, and a pickup next year to growth of 2.6% to 3%, according to projections released last week.

The Commerce Department will release its first estimate of GDP in the fourth quarter, which ends next week, on Jan. 30.

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U.S. Economy Posts Strongest Growth in More Than a Decade

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Health-Care Spending Gives Boost to U.S. Growth