Trade boosts US economy in last 2004 quarter

The US economy performed better than expected in the final quarter of last year, growing 3

The US economy performed better than expected in the final quarter of last year, growing 3.8 per cent in the final three months of 2004.

That was slightly stronger than the 3.7 per cent that Wall Street economists had forecast and only a small decline from the third quarter's 4 per cent pace.

Nearly half the revision stemmed from a stronger trade performance, reflecting more robust exports than previously thought.

Statistics Canada corrected a $1.4 billion error in underestimating US exports to Canada during November, and later data also showed the US trade deficit for December narrowed more than had been anticipated.

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Despite the fourth-quarter revision, there was no change in the government's calculation that GDP grew 4.4 per cent during 2004, much stronger than the 3 per cent increase posted in 2003 and the strongest for any year since 1999 when it expanded 4.5 per cent.