GDP Up 4.0% in Q4, According to Advance Estimate
Washington, DC, January 28, 2021-Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4%.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Despite a strong rebound in the second half of last year, the economy contracted 3.5% in 2020, measured year over year, the first decline since the financial crisis and the largest since 1946. Measured from the fourth quarter to the same quarter a year ago, the economy shrank 2.5%.
“U.S. gross domestic product-the value of all goods and services produced across the economy-rose at a 4.0% seasonally and inflation adjusted annual rate in the final quarter of last year, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, joining a record gain in the third quarter to further reduce losses from earlier in the pandemic.
“While the pace of consumer spending slowed considerably in the fourth quarter, corporate and residential investment was ‘really very encouraging’ and ‘sets up nicely for what could be a really good 2021,’ James Knightley, an economist at ING Financial Markets LLC, said.”