The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2007, down sharply from the brisk 4.9 percent in the previous quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The newly released reading, which was unchanged from an initial estimate a month ago, underscored how much momentum the economy had lost, analysts said. They had expected growth of 0.8 percent for the last three months of 2007.
For all of last year, the economy grew by 2.2 percent, the worst showing since 2002.
In the October-to-December period, consumer spending, which accounts for two thirds of overall economic activity, rose at an annual rate of 1.9 percent, down from 2.8 percent in the third quarter.
In 2007, consumers boosted their spending by 2.9 percent, the smallest increase since 2003.
Spending on housing projects plunged 25.2 percent in the fourth quarter, steeper than the 20.5 percent drop in the third quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarterly decline. For 2007, residential investment dropped by 17.0 percent, the biggest dive in 25 years.
Businesses' spending on equipment and software rose 3.3 percent, down from 6.2 percent in the third quarter. For the whole year, spending nudged up 1.3 percent, the worst showing since 2002.
Exports of goods and services gained 4.8 percent after jumping 19.1 percent, while imports of goods and services declined 1.9 percent after increasing 4.4 percent in the third quarter.
For the whole year, exports grew by 8.0 percent, down from the 8.4 percent in 2006.
Meanwhile, government spending in the final quarter rose 2.2 percent following an increase of 3.8 percent in the previous quarter.
"Core" prices, which exclude volatile energy and food and are an inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve, climbed2.7 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 2 percent in the prior quarter, marking the biggest quarterly increase since the spring of 2006.
For the year 2007, core prices went up 2.1 percent, down from 2.2 percent in 2006.
"The deceleration in real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth quarter primarily reflected a downturn in inventory investment and decelerations in exports, in consumer spending, and in federal government spending that were partly offset by a downturn in imports," the Commerce Department said in the report.
GDP measures the value of both goods and services produced within the United States.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article