Economy Slows To a Crawl in Fourth Quarter

Washington, DC, February 28, 2008—The economy slowed substantially in the fourth quarter of last year, hit by problems in the housing and credit markets.

The Commerce Department saidThursday that the gross domestic product increased at a pace of 0.6 percent in the quarter. The reading illustrates how much momentum the economy has lost. In the previous quarter, the economy grew at a 4.9 percent pace.

Builders slashed spending on housing projects by 25.2 percent on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter, the biggest drop in 26 years.

The National Association for Business Economics expects economic growth in the current January-to-March quarter to slow to a 0.4 percent pace.