Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released third and final installment of the Q4 2008 GDP report showing a stunning contraction with GDP declining at an annual rate of -6.3%.Looking at the report more closely it’s easy to see that the quarter was a disaster overall with huge double-digit declines to Durable Goods, Exports of Goods and Fixed Investment with the only crutch to lean on being Nondefense Government “investment”.
Fixed investment provided significant drags on growth with non-residential investment declining -21.7% and residential investment declining -22.8%.
The following chart shows real residential and non-residential fixed investment versus overall GDP since Q1 2003 (click for larger version).
