Update: Economy Bottomed Out in Fourth Quarter 2007

The release of the second quarter 2008 GDP numbers was accompanied by revisions to the GDP figures from 2005-2007. From those revisions, based upon newly available data, it appears that the economy did contract during one quarter - the fourth quarter of 2007. The previous GDP number for that quarter was a positive growth of 0.6%. The new data shows that there was, in actuality, a slight contraction of GDP during that quarter - a negative 0.2%.

From that new data, it appears that the economy bottomed out last year. The two subsequent quarters since then have seen a slowly rising growth curve established - first quarter 2008 saw a revised positive 0.9% growth, and the just released second quarter GDP rose at a positive 1.9%. Slow, but moving in the right direction - away from a real recession.