Chicago Tribune | GDP Roars Ahead at 8.2 Percent in Q3:
"All of the GDP figures released Tuesday reflected a comprehensive revision that the government does every five years to make sure the measurement of total output keeps up with the times. With the changes, the GDP grew by 2.2 percent for all of 2002, down slightly from the previous estimate of 2.4 percent.

The benchmark revisions and the changes to third quarter GDP showed a number of crosscutting revisions that basically offset each other to make little impact on the bottom-line number. "

For the third quarter, consumer spending was revised up to an even-stronger 6.9 percent rate of growth, the best showing since the third quarter of 1986, compared to last month's estimate of 6.4 percent.

But private investment, which covers housing construction and business spending on plants and equipment, was revised down to a 14.8 percent rate of increase, reflecting slightly less business investment which offset a bigger increase in housing construction.…


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-economy,1,163359.story