Dados EUA (13:30): GDP

[notiCIas]

GDP posts smallest gain in 3 years

Far less growth than forecasts in the fourth quarter, as economy manages only 1.1% annual rate gain.

January 27, 2006: 8:57 AM EST



NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The nation's economy grew at its slowest pace in three years in the fourth quarter, according to the government's gross domestic product report Friday, which came in far weaker than economists' forecasts.

The broad measure of the nation's economic activity showed an annual growth rate of 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter, down from the 4.1 percent growth rate in the final reading of third-quarter growth. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 2.8 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter.

Stock futures slipped just a touch following the report but still pointed to a higher open.

Anthony Chan, chief economist for JPMorgan Private Client Services, said that any concern among investors about slower growth was more than balanced by their glee that the report could stop the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates after its Jan. 31 meeting, at which another quarter-percentage point hike is widely expected.

"The collapse of growth will serve as an incentive to stop the Fed from overshooting (on rate hikes)," said Chan.

Still the inflation readings in the report did relatively little to assure that the Fed will not keep raising rates in an effort to keep prices in check. The personal consumption price index was up 2.6 percent in the quarter, while prices excluding food and energy rose 2.2 percent, up from a 1.4 percent gain in the third quarter.

"There's a little disappointment the (price readings) weren't a little slower, given the collapse in growth," said Chan.