U.S. economic growth best in over 6 years!
Hopefully, “good news” will “travel fast!”
The GDP, the broadest measure of economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 5.7% during the fourth quarter, much stronger than expected. The GDP growth is another sign of U.S. economic recovery. Economists that were surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a GDP growth of a full 1% less, 4.7%.
The U.S. economic growth during the fourth quarter was the highest since the third quarter of 2003.
During the third quarter of 2009, the GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.2%. Even with the growth during the last two quarters of 2009, the economy shrank by 2.4% last year, the biggest drop in 63 years and the first annual decline since 1991.
Most economists agree that the recession ended at some point in the middle of 2009, and two straight quarters of economic growth is a typical sign of a recovery. The official determination of the end of the recession will be made by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which conservatively usually waits months before stating the beginning and end of a recession.
According to today’s report, 3.4 percentage points of fourth quarter growth resulted from a turnaround in inventories. Consumer spending rose at an annualized rate of only 2% during the quarter. An 18% increase in the value of exports also contributed greatly to the economic rebound and contributed almost 2 percentage points of growth.
Investment in business equipment during the quarter climbed at an annualized rate of 13%! This growth contributed almost a full point to GDP and often preceeds employers hiring again!
Although the news is about the U.S., rather than just California, it is so positive that I had to pass it along!
Spread the word! 
-Bill at
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