US growth data for the fourth quarter of 2012 was revised up again to an did not take a dip at the end of last year.
The third revision comes after an initial estimate that the economy shrank 0.1 per cent. That was later revised to growth of 0.1 per cent.
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But the quarter was still dragged down by big falls in defence spending and business inventories, both of which analysts regard as temporary, suggesting that underlying growth continued at a slow but steady 2 per cent.
The big change in the latest revision was a much higher estimate of business investment in buildings. The Bureau of Economic Analysis now estimates that it added 0.46 percentage points to the growth rate instead of a previous estimate of 0.16 percentage points before.
A revival in the commercial real estate sector could add another leg to the economic recovery after a [Dear Guest/Member you can't see link before click here to register] has helped to drive growth this year.
“Interest is already building in how well the US economy coped with the fiscal tightening at the beginning of 2013, especially the payroll tax hike, and the automatic budget cuts from March onwards,” said Kevin Dunning, US analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, before the release of the report.
“Early signs are that consumer spending remained relatively robust, despite the hit to disposable income.”
There are signs that the private sector is now able to drive US growth of faster than 2 per cent but overall output is being held back by [Dear Guest/Member you can't see link before click here to register].
The BEA also published annual estimates of profits showing a 6.8 per cent increase in the earnings of corporate America for 2012, after a 7.3 per cent increase in 2011. The figures indicate the remarkable profitability of big US companies during the economic recovery.
Dividends increased 11.9 per cent after a 16 per cent increase in 2011.
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