Commerce Department says U.S. economy slowed sharply in Q4 2014March 27, 2015 - 20:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, slowing sharply from the prior quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday, March 27, according to AFP. The department left unrevised its previous estimate of gross domestic product growth, which analysts had expected would be raised to a 2.4 percent pace after the economy's blistering 5.0 percent growth in the third quarter. The department revised higher consumer spending in the October-December period, notably in health care, but that was offset by an upward revision to imports, which surged 10.1 percent. Also subtracting from GDP was a sharp 7.3 percent fall in federal government spending and slower inventory investment. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of output in the world's largest economy, rose 4.4 percent, the strongest increase in nearly nine years. Corporate profits fell 1.4 percent quarter-over-quarter, after rising 3.1 percent in the third quarter. For all of 2014, corporate profits fell 0.8 percent following a 4.2 percent rise in 2013. In 2014, the economy grew 2.4 percent, picking up from the 2.2 percent rate in 2013. "The first quarter looks even softer, in part due to adverse weather, but abstracting from the vagaries of the quarterly data, real growth appears to be trending close to a respectable three percent pace," said Scott Hoyt of Moody's Analytics. Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |