NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is expanding at a 4.4 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Wednesday, following the latest data on trade and auto sales.

This was slower than the 4.7 percent pace calculated by the regional Fed’s forecast program on Tuesday.

Earlier Wednesday, the government said the U.S. trade deficit reached a five-month peak in July as the disparity between what the United States imports from China and what it exports to the world’s second-largest economy hit an all-time high.

GDPNow’s program projected the drag from net exports on economic growth in the third quarter grew to -0.76 percentage point from an earlier estimate of -0.70 point.

Weaker vehicle sales last month also bogged down GDPNow’s view on third-quarter growth.

The Atlanta Fed program reduced its outlook on personal consumption expenditures growth to 3.3 percent from 3.6 percent and its estimate on investment growth to 16.4 percent from 16.9 percent.