Real GDP surprises with 3.2% 4Q growth behind retail, holidays

摘要

Solid holiday spending drove the US economy to grow more strongly than expected in the fourth quarter ?with real GDP reported today at 3.2%. Forecasters were previously pegging GDP under the 3.2%, but third quarter GDP was recently revised up to 2.6%. For 2010, US GDP grew 2.9% from 2009's negative 2.6% level. Two key forces for the higher-than-expected growth was strong retail sales in the fourth quarter as well as reduction in unemployment in December.