Fourth-Quarter GDP Revised Down to 2.8%

U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter, a smaller rate than the previous estimate, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Commerce last month estimated fourth-quarter GDP growth at a 3.2% rate, the first of three estimates it releases for each quarter. The third-quarter rate was 2.6%

GDP for the full year expanded at a 2.8% rate, slightly lower than the 2.9% previous estimated. It was the highest yearly gain in five years, after contracting 2.6% in 2009, Commerce said.

The quarterly rate revision was below economists’ median forecast of a 3.3% rate, Bloomberg reported.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy, rose at a 4.1% rate, the most since the first quarter of 2006. The previous estimate was a 4.4% rate, following the 2.4% rate in the third quarter.

Friday’s GDP figure was the second of three to be put out by Commerce.