Economy, Commerce Department | featured news

Fewer people bought new homes in December. The decline made 2011 the worst year for new-homes sales on records dating back nearly half a century. The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell 2.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy.

The third quarter’s gross domestic product grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said in a revised estimate, down from the previously estimated 2.5 percent.

The economy grew slightly faster in the spring than previously estimated but remained dangerously weak in the face of high unemployment and higher gas prices. Many economists foresee slightly better growth in the current July-September quarter. The annual growth rate was 1.3 percent in the April-June quarter, up from an estimate of 1 percent made a month ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The improvement reflected modestly more consumer spending and a bigger boost from trade.

Spending rebounded strongly to post the largest increase in five months, the Commerce Department said.

Consumers spent more in March on furniture, electronics and at restaurants, but also paid more for gas. Retail sales increased 0.4 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the ninth consecutive monthly gain.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose 1 percent in September, Commerce Department data showed on Wednesday, suggesting that the economy's wobbling recovery from recession may be steadying.

The recession likely eased in the spring, with the U.S. economy no longer in free-fall. Many analysts predict that when the Commerce Department releases its first estimate of second-quarter activity Friday, it will say the economy shrank at a 1.5 percent pace from April though June. If they are correct, it would mark a vast improvement from the 5.9 percent annualized drop recorded over the prior six months – the weakest showing in 50 years.