US GDP revised up to 0.4% in Q4

Q4 2012 US GDP has been revised up from 0.1% to 0.4%, though the figure remains the lowest level of quarterly growth seen since Q1 2011.

The third estimate for Q4 is also well short of the previous quarter's 3.1% growth figure. Though a sharp fall in defence spending continued to weigh, inventories knocked 1.52 percentage points from the GDP growth rate in Q4, less than had been expected in last estimate, which was published on 28th February. Consumer spending expanded at a 1.8% annual rate, slower than the government's previous estimate, while business investment rose at a 13.2% rate, a larger than expected gain, with the extra growth coming from stronger construction activity. Stronger exports also helped raise th...