The US economy shrank 0.1 per cent at an annualised rate in the fourth quarter of 2012, rattling financial markets as one-off factors overwhelmed resilience in underlying demand.
Much of the fall in gross domestic product was due to a big reversal in business inventories and a plunge in federal defence spending – both highly volatile – which each knocked 1.3 percentage points off growth. That suggests the underlying economy remains on a weak but stable growth path of 1-2 per cent.
But the first reported decline in the US economy since the end of the recession in 2009 is a blow to confidence and highlights the uncertainty caused by fiscal policy. Market expectations were for a rise of 1.1 per cent.
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