Friday, January 27, 2012

Faster GDP Growth will be Welcome News for the White House, Despite “Ifs” and “Buts” in the Details

According to the advance estimate released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. real GDP growth increased to a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to just 1.8 percent the previous quarter. It was the tenth consecutive quarter of growth since the end of the recession.

Furthermore, the new data show that the economy has now solidly entered the expansion phase of the business cycle.  Expansion begins when real GDP surpasses its prerecession peak, which occurred in Q4 2007. Technically, the expansion had already begun in Q3, but by such a tiny margin (just 0.04 percent) that it was hardly enough to count. Read more>>>

Follow this link to view or download a classroom-ready slideshow version of the latest GDP data.

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