[Marxism] GDP drops by 3.8 percent in fouth quarter

[brad bauerly <bbauerly@xxxxxxxxx>]

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FOURTH QUARTER 2008 (ADVANCE)

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services
produced by labor and property
located in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 3.8
percent in the fourth quarter of 2008,
(that is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to
advance estimates released by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis.  In the third quarter, real GDP decreased
0.5 percent.

        The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter “advance” estimates are
based on source data that
are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency
(see the box on page 4).  The fourth-
quarter “preliminary” estimates, based on more comprehensive data,
will be released on February 27,
2009.

        The decrease in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected
negative contributions from
exports, personal consumption expenditures, equipment and software,
and residential fixed investment
that were partly offset by positive contributions from private
inventory investment and federal
government spending.  Imports, which are a subtraction in the
calculation of GDP, decreased.

        Most of the major components contributed to the much larger decrease
in real GDP in the fourth
quarter than in the third.  The largest contributors were a downturn
in exports and a much larger
decrease in equipment and software.  The most notable offset was a
much larger decrease in imports.

        Final sales of computers subtracted less than 0.01 percentage point
from the change in real GDP
after subtracting 0.01 percentage point from the third-quarter change.
 Motor vehicle output subtracted
2.04 percentage points from the fourth-quarter change in real GDP
after contributing 0.16 percentage
point to the third-quarter change.

-- 
Brad A. Bauerly
PhD Candidate,
Political Science
York University
Toronto, Canada
647-345-2072
bauerly@xxxxxxxx
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu