GDP: U.S. economy expands at lackluster 2.2% rate in 1st quarter

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy barely grew in the fourth quarter although a slightly better performance in exports and fewer imports led the government to scratch an earlier estimate that showed an economic contraction. Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1% annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, missing the 0.5% gain forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. The growth rate was the slowest since the first quarter of 2011 and far from what is needed to fuel a faster drop in the unemployment rate.

The quick way to talk about how any economy is doing is in terms of “growth”.  This is just what it sounds – a measure of how much the total value of production in a country has increased in the last month, quarter, or year.

Daryl Montgomery submits: Only in the magic world of economic statistics can a slower rate of decline be declared as growth. It was just this sort of Alice in Wonderland logic that led to the U.S. government declaring that its fourth quarter GDP grew at a 5.7% annual rate. This number didn't result from actual economic growth per se, but from a slower rate of decline of inventories.

Justin Wolfers characterizes today's GDP report: