Fourth-Quarter GDP Grew at 1.7% Annual Rate

March 30, 2006 9:30 AM, EST

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he U.S. economy grew at a 1.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter, higher than previously estimated but the lowest for a quarter in three years, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The gross domestic product growth rate was higher than the 1.6% reported in late February but well below the 4.1% third-quarter rate.

The growth matched economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

GDP is the value of all the goods and services produced in the country.

The economy grew at a 3.5% pace for all of 2005, down from 4.2% in 2004. They were the strongest two years of growth since 1999-2000.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the GDP, expanded at a 0.9% annual pace in the quarter, slower than the 1.2% reported earlier, Commerce said.

That was the slowest since the first quarter of 1995, reflecting slow automobile sales last October, Bloomberg reported.