NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Federal Reserve on Friday lowered its forecast on U.S. economic growth in the third quarter and fourth quarters from what it estimated a week earlier following weaker-than-expected housing starts data for August.

The regional central bank said it saw gross domestic product in the third quarter growing at 2.26 percent on Sept. 20, compared with 2.38 percent as of Sept. 16. It downgraded its fourth-quarter GDP outlook to 1.22 percent from 1.37 percent.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)