According to the advance estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, real GDP expanded at an annualized rate of 2.6 percent. Much of the growth was attributed to contributions from consumer spending and private inventory investment, which contributed 2.9 and 0.8 percentage points to the quarter's growth, respectively. The deceleration in GDP growth, from 5.0 percent in the third quarter, primarily reflected an upturn in imports and downturn in government spending.
