The US Economy Grew Slower Than Expected In The Fourth Quarter

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the Commerce Department just announced that US real gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% during the fourth quarter of 2010.

In late January, the BEA released their "advance estimate" of Q4 GDP growth. At the time, the BEA predicted that real GDP growth (annual) was 3.2% during Q4/2010.

Many analysts were predicting that the "advance estimate" from the BEA would end up being a bit low, as the consensus analyst estimate was that the US economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.3% during the October-December quarter.

Well, as it turns out, the "advance estimate" from the BEA and the consensus estimate from analysts were both too high.

The "second estimate" from the BEA is based on "more complete source data" than last month�s "advance estimate" and is much more accurate.

Another key number that many people were closely scrutinizing, real personal consumption expenditures, also came in lower than expected (4.1% increase vs expectations of 4.2% increase).

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In total, real GDP in the United States increased 2.8% in 2010, up from a decline of 2.6% in 2009.

Here are the quarterly GDP growth numbers (annualized) for 2010:

Q1 - 3.7%
Q2 - 1.7%
Q3 - 2.6%
Q4 - 2.8%

Source: BEA.gov - Bureau of Economic Analysis

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