The U.S. Department of Commerce released the second estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of 2021, indicating that the U.S. economy grew by 7.0%, up from the first estimate of 6.9%.
Previously, the U.S. economy grew by 6.3% in the first quarter of 2021 and by 6.7% in the second quarter, before slowing to 2.3% in the third quarter due to raw material shortages in the manufacturing sector. This impacted the supply chain, causing car sales and consumer spending to decline.
Looking at 2021 as a whole, the U.S. economy grew by 5.7%, the highest since 1984, following the 3.4% decline in 2020, the largest decline since 1946, caused by the Covid 19 epidemic.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims fell by 17,000 to 232,000 jobs last week.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits are still higher than 215,000, which is the average per week prior to the epidemic in the United States.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of Americans continuing to file for jobless benefits fell to 1.48 million.
In addition, new home sales in the United States were lower than expected in January.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that new home sales fell 4.5% in January to 801,000 units.
Year on year, new home sales plummeted 19.3% in January.
New home sales are being impacted by the rise in home prices and the rebound in mortgage rates.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department also increased new home sales in December to 839,000 units from the original 811,000 units.
The median price of a new home rose 13.4% in January to $423,300.