RECOVERY SLOWS IN 2020’S FOURTH QUARTER

The U.S. economic recovery slowed in the last quarter of 2020, crippled by a surge in state lockdowns and draconian restrictions on travel and gatherings during Thanksgiving and the December holiday seasons.
U.S. GDP grew only 1 percent during the quarter, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, costing jobs as unemployment claims rose in December and earlier this month.
Annualized, the quarter’s growth rate is 4 percent, compared to an annualized rate of 33.4 percent during 2020’s third quarter.
Spending on health care, hotel stays, restaurants, and vehicle purchases perked up a bit in the third quarter but stalled in the fourth.
Despite the fourth quarter’s disappointment, U.S. GDP will be larger by July than it was in December 2019, the International Monetary Fund has predicted. The group recently raised its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year from 3.1 to 5.1 percent.