Provided by
Dow Jones
By Harriet Torry
The U.S. economy grew steadily in the fourth quarter of 2020 and is forecast to continue recovering this year from the effects of the pandemic.
Yet despite a strong rebound in the second half of last year, the economy contracted 3.5% in 2020, measured year over year, the first decline since the 2008 financial crisis and the largest since 1946. Measured from the fourth quarter to the same quarter a year earlier the economy shrank 2.5%
Fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product -- the value of all goods and services produced across the economy, adjusted for seasonality and inflation -- grew by 4%, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That joined a record gain in the third quarter to further reduce losses from earlier in the pandemic.