4th Quarter 2008 GDP: -6.3%

The Commerce Department reported that the third and final reading for U.S. economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2008 resulted in a minor downward revision from a seasonally adjusted, annualized growth rate of minus 6.2 percent to minus 6.3 percent.

This marks the worst quarter for the U.S. economy since early 1982 when the economy contracted at an annual pace of 6.4 percent during the second of two early-1980s recessions. The second quarter of 1980 saw a contraction at a 7.8 percent pace and the post-WWII record stands at -10.8 percent in early 1958.

For the year, the economy expanded 1.1 percent, the smallest advance since the 0.8 percent expansion in 2001.

from the Mess that Greenspan Made