United States GDP rises 5.7pc in fourth quarter of 2009

AMERICAN exports increased 18 per cent in the fourth quarter, driving a 5.7 per cent increase in America's gross domestic product in the last quarter, said the US Commerce Department.

"The acceleration in GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in private inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an upturn in non-residential fixed investment," said the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

The government also said real private inventories contracted US$33.5 billion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, but that was far less than the $139.2 billion inventory retrenchment in the third quarter and the $160.2 billion decrease in the second quarter.

Source: www.schednet.com