The recession-hit US economy expanded slightly in the fourth quarter of 2001, the government said today in a report that could add to beliefs the US is turning the corner to recovery.
Gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of the economy's health, increased 0.2% in the final three months of last year, the Commerce Department said. That defied predictions from private economists that GDP would shrink by 1%.
Even though the economy has been in recession since March, the downturn has been unusually mild by historical standards. The only negative quarter for GDP occurred in the third quarter, when it contracted 1.3%.
A jump in government spending and a rush by consumers to take advantage of zero-percent financing for purchases of new cars powered the fourth quarter GDP.
Amid the strong consumer spending, companies ran through a whopping $120.6 billion worth of inventories, the largest drop on record.
