US RECESSION BUILDS.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported "advance" estimates that real GDP declined in the fourth quarter of 2008 at an annual rate of 3.8%, compared to the third quarter. The decrease was attributed to negative contributions from exports, personal consumption expenditures, equipment and software, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by positive contributions from private inventory investment and federal government spending. Real GDP declined in the third quarter by 0.5%. Real GDP for 2008 as a whole increased by 1.3%. -Stuart Whitaker