If trends of economic statistical revision usually indicate the direction of future adjustments…?

U.S. Recession Worst Since Great Depression, revised Data Show

 

The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated.

 

The world’s largest economy contracted 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the last three months of 2008, compared with the 0.8 percent drop previously on the books… Gross domestic product has shrunk 3.9 percent in the past year, the report said, indicating the worst slump since the Great Depression.

 

Residential construction fell 21 percent during the period, almost 2 percentage points more than previously reported.

 

…the economy contracted at a 1 percent annual rate from April through June after shrinking at a 6.4 percent pace in the first quarter, the most since 1982. The decline in the first three months of the year was previously reported as 5.5 percent.

 

…the third quarter of 2008 underwent one of the biggest changes, going from a 0.5 percent decrease in GDP to a 2.7 percent drop.

 

Bob Willis

Bloomberg, August 2, 2009