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28 January 2011
Last updated at 09:04 ET
US economic growth accelerated in the last three months of 2010 to an annualised rate of 3.2%, corresponding to a 0.78% quarterly increase.
This compares with an annual GDP rate of 2.6% from the Commerce Department in the previous quarter.
A rise in consumer spending contributed to the growth, as did falling imports.
The Labor Department said that wages and benefits rose 2% in 2010, which is faster than 2009, but still the second slowest rate since records began.
The Labor Department has been collecting the figures for 28 years.
The fourth-quarter GDP figure is a first estimate, and could be revised either up or down in the coming months.
The US economy grew by 2.9% in the whole of 2010, which is the strongest year of growth since 2005.
The 4.4% rise in consumer spending had a particularly strong effect because such spending accounts for more than two thirds of US economic activity.
"Unfortunately we still need to see much stronger growth to begin to really make a dent in the unemployment rate," said Ryan Sweet at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"Right now we are just barely creating enough jobs to stabilise the unemployment rate."
Home building made an unexpected contribution to the figures, growing 3.4%.
Government spending contracted, with much of the fall coming from state and local government.
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This compares with an annual GDP rate of 2.6% from the Commerce Department in the previous quarter.
A rise in consumer spending contributed to the growth, as did falling imports.
The Labor Department said that wages and benefits rose 2% in 2010, which is faster than 2009, but still the second slowest rate since records began.
The Labor Department has been collecting the figures for 28 years.
The fourth-quarter GDP figure is a first estimate, and could be revised either up or down in the coming months.
The US economy grew by 2.9% in the whole of 2010, which is the strongest year of growth since 2005.
The 4.4% rise in consumer spending had a particularly strong effect because such spending accounts for more than two thirds of US economic activity.
"Unfortunately we still need to see much stronger growth to begin to really make a dent in the unemployment rate," said Ryan Sweet at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"Right now we are just barely creating enough jobs to stabilise the unemployment rate."
Home building made an unexpected contribution to the figures, growing 3.4%.
Government spending contracted, with much of the fall coming from state and local government.
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