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The U.S. economy was fired up in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- growing at its fastest pace in 6 years. Government efforts to stimulate the economy, such as tax credits for first-time home-buyers, provided a lift. The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in six years in the fourth quarter as businesses boosted spending and made less drastic cuts to their inventories. The report signals the national economy has emerged from the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression according to John Silvia, Chief Economist, at Wells Fargo. John Silvia, Chief Economist of Wells Fargo, said, "The overall economy is improving and what you see is consumers are spending money and probably in line at a more modest pace with their expected income gains and meanwhile businesses are investing and that's nice to see as well." Christina Romer, Chair of Council of Economic Advisors, said, "GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is growing and we've seen that now for, as you put it, certainly two quarters in a row. From the perspective of the American people this thing is not going to feel like it is over until we are adding a lot of jobs, until that unemployment rate is coming down." The Commerce Department's gross domestic product, which measures the sum of all goods and services produced in U.S. borders, surged at a 5.7% annual rate last quarter, compared to 2.2% last quarter, well ahead of most estimates. Consumer spending increased slightly but for many, the economic figure from last quarter doesn't paint the whole picture. "People are hurting, people are hurting all over." "Paying for school is like hard if you don't have a job and you can't get a loan because banks aren't giving out loans anymore because they don't have any money." David Wyss, Economist of Standard & Poor's, said, "Obviously what we are really worried about are retail sales. We'll get the chain store sales numbers out on Thursday, that's important, but perhaps most critical is what happens to employment. We are looking at pay role employment that was still down in December after a very modest up-tick in November. We just want to see whether January we actually get some increase, I don't think we will." Plenty of consumers have the jitters. A report from Reuters/University of Michigan shows worries over job and financial prospects weighed on many consumers in January, even as confidence hit a 2-year high as the economic picture improved. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke called the GDP report a dramatic turnaround from the recent recession, but says the President is not resting on the news. Locke said, "The president is most focused on accelerating jobs, job creation and getting as many people back to work as possible." Christina Romer, Chair of Council of Economic Advisors, said, "Job growth by spring I think is very realistic. We do know these numbers jump around a lot, we'll get an employment report for January next week, I think realistically sometime in the next few months we would expect to see positive numbers." Most economists predict the job market will pick up in the spring, in select sectors. Until then, the road to recovery may have a few bumps. I am a professional editor from http://www.himfr.com/, and my work is to promote a free online trade platform. http://www.himfr.com/ contain a great deal of information about u bearing,antique hinges,Free Knitting Loom Patterns, welcome to visit!
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