MANHATTAN — Despite a bumpy year, America's gross domestic product enjoyed modest growth at the end of 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Friday.
The economy grew to 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, Friday's estimates show, accelerating from 1.8 percent in the third quarter, according to the Washington Post. It marked the fastest growth in 18 months.
Ultimately, it wasn't enough to impress investors on Wall Street, where stocks fell in response to the news after weeks of gains, the Wall Street Journal reported. Many had been expecting at least 3 percent growth in the fourth quarter, the paper reported.
Still, despite falling well below average growth rates since World War II, the boost helped allay fears the U.S. could fall back into a recession, according to the New York Times. The economic turmoil in Europe this summer and the downgrading of American debt by Standard & Poor's in August had added to those fears.
On the whole, the economy grew by 1.7 percent in 2011 — enough to stave off another recession, but probably not enough to spur job creation, experts told the Times.
Prior to the agency's announcement, unemployment claims filed in January fell to rates not seen since the beginning of the recession.
But even as average Americans appeared to gain jobs and invest more in durable goods like cars and washing machines, the government was tightening its belt. Federal spending fell in every category, according to the report.
State and local governments, too, sharply curtailed spending.
"After such a deep recession, we should be in the middle of a sharp recovery," Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, told the Wall Street Journal. "But this is a slow, grinding-out kind of recovery, and momentum can be derailed by one bad data point."
