Consumer, Government Spending Pushes Up 4Q GDP

The gross domestic product, the total value of all goods and services produced in the United States, rose at a revised 1.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2001, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Trucking is extremely sensitive to economic conditions and signs that the recession is ending – or has ended – are good news for the industry.

The GDP number, revised upward from 0.2% rate of increase reported last month, reflects more consumer purchases of domestic-made goods and the biggest government spending increase since 1978.

Analysts were expecting a 0.9% rise, Bloomberg reported.

The rise in GDP in the fourth quarter was the biggest since a 1.9% rate of increase in the same quarter of 2000. It followed a 1.3% pace of decline in the 2001 third quarter and a 0.3% rise in the previous three months.

Businesses trimmed inventories at a record pace in the fourth quarter, the report showed. Stockpiles fell by $120 billion at an annual pace, which was less than the $120.6 billion first reported, but was still nearly twice the previous record of $61.9 billion set in the third quarter of 2001.

Consumer spending grew at a 6% annual pace in the fourth quarter, up from the 5.4% originally reported. That was the fastest pace since the second quarter of 1998.

Spending for automobiles and other durable goods increased at a 39.2% annual rate during the three months, the strongest pace since the third quarter of 1986. Government spending rose at a 10.1% annual pace in the fourth quarter.

The GDP price deflator, a gauge of inflation tied to the report, fell at a 0.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter, same as originally reported.

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