US Q4 GDP up a Notch at 4.1%, 2020 Decline Stays at 3.5% - Commerce Dept.
The US gross domestic product growth for the fourth quarter of 2020 showed a slightly higher reading of 4.1 percent on its second reading, though the economic decline for 2020 itself was unchanged, the Commerce Department said on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2021) The US gross domestic product growth for the fourth quarter of 2020 showed a slightly higher reading of 4.1 percent on its second reading, though the economic decline for 2020 itself was unchanged, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
"Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the 'second' estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis," the department said in a statement. "The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the 'advance' estimate issued last month."
In the so-called advance, or first, reading of fourth quarter GDP released on January 28, growth was estimated at 4.0 percent.
While the quarterly revision to the GDP was positive, it was still a sliver of the record expansion of 33.
1 percent seen in the third quarter. The third quarter growth was extraordinarily large as the economy rebounded from a spate of lockdowns, social restrictions and job losses in the second quarter associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Notwithstanding the quarterly growth, the GDP estimate for all of 2020 remained at a negative 3.5 percent, versus the 2.2 percent growth registered in 2019.
The annual decline in GDP came after a year of momentous economic disruptions and job losses in the United States. The US economy lost more than 21 million jobs between March and April 2020, at the height of business lockdowns and social restrictions forced by the COVID-19. At least 10 million of those jobs have not returned, data shows.