White House blames Sandy for economic slowdown
One-time factors like government spending cuts and slower inventory growth could also be to blame, offsetting faster growth in consumer spending, business investment and housing — the economy's core drivers of growth.
The White House says Superstorm Sandy is partially to blame for the unexpected contraction of the U.S. economy.
Top White House economist Alan Krueger says the storm, which battered the East Coast, disrupted economic activity and destroyed $44 billion in fixed capital. Krueger also says federal defense spending shrank, in part because of uncertainty over automatic spending cuts that could have kicked in at the start of the year.
President Barack Obama and Congress reached a deal to push off the spending cuts — known as the sequester — for two more months.
RELATED: Private sector adds more jobs than expected in January
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. It's the first time the economy shrank since 2009..
The surprise contraction could raise fears about the economy's ability to handle tax increases that took effect in January and looming spending cuts.
Still, the weakness may be because of one-time factors. Government spending cuts and slower inventory growth subtracted a total of 2.6 percentage points from growth.
And those volatile categories offset faster growth in consumer spending, business investment and housing — the economy's core drivers of growth.
Another positive aspect of the report: For all of 2012, the economy expanded 2.2 percent, better than 2011's growth of 1.8 percent.
The economy may stay weak at the start of the year because Americans are coming to grips with an increase in Social Security taxes that has left them with less take-home pay.
Subpar growth has held back hiring. The economy has created about 150,000 jobs a month, on average, for the past two years. That's barely enough to reduce the unemployment rate, which has been 7.8 percent for the past two months.
Economists forecast that unemployment stayed at the still-high rate again this month. The government releases the January jobs report Friday.
The slower growth in stockpiles comes after a big jump in the third quarter. Companies frequently cut back on inventories if they anticipate a slowdown in sales. Slower inventory growth means factories likely produced less.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. said this week that it reduced its inventories by $2 billion in the fourth quarter as global sales declined from a year earlier.
The biggest question going forward is how consumers react to the expiration of a Social Security tax cut. Congress and the White House allowed the temporary tax cut to expire in January, but reached a deal to keep income taxes from rising on most Americans.
The tax increase will lower take-home pay this year by about 2 percent. That means a household earning $50,000 a year will have about $1,000 less to spend. A household with two high-paid workers will have up to $4,500 less.
Already, a key measure of consumer confidence plummeted this month after Americans noticed the reduction in their paychecks, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
——
MSN News on Facebook and Twitter
Stay up to date on breaking news and current events.
Friend us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/news.msn
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/msnnews
