(credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines Co. is reporting a small third-quarter profit, but says weak demand in September caused a key measure of revenue to grow slower than expected.

Southwest says it’s “encouraged” by booking and revenue trends so far this month.

Southwest earned $16 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, or 2 cents per share. Not counting special items, Southwest would have earned $97 million, or 13 cents per share. That’s a penny per share more than expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

During the same period last year it lost $140 million, or 18 cents per share.

Revenue was the same as a year ago, at $4.31billion. That was a little lower than analysts had expected.

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