WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. But prospects for a solid rebound going forward are being clouded by the rapid spread of the latest variant of the coronavirus.

       The third and final look at the performance of the gross domestic product, the nation's total output of goods and services, is up slightly from last month's estimate of 2.1% third quarter growth.

       The third quarter performance followed much more rapid growth of 6.3% in the first quarter and 6.7% in the second quarter. The emergence of the delta variant in the summer was blamed for much of the third quarter slowdown.

       Now with the appearance of the omicron variant, coming on top of high inflation and lingering supply chain issues, there are concerns about future growth prospects.

       Those fears have sent the stock market on a turbulent ride in recent days although new optimism that the omicron risks will be manageable allowed the Dow Jones industrial average to stage a 560-point rebound on Tuesday.