美國經濟增長高於預期

The U.S. economy grew faster than earlier thought during the last few months of 2010.

Friday's report from the Commerce Department says the gross domestic product expanded at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the last quarter of last year. That is three-tenths of a percentage point faster than an earlier estimate. Experts routinely revise their estimates as new data becomes available.

The GDP is the broadest measure of the economy, and takes account of all goods and services produced in a nation.

For all of 2010, the U.S. GDP expanded 2.9 percent, the most in 5 years.

Some economists say growth may slow this quarter as rising oil prices take up money that otherwise might have boosted demand for other goods and services.

They are also trying to calculate how much Japan's tsunami and nuclear problems will hurt U.S. growth. Some Japanese factories that normally produce parts for cars, electronics and aircraft are shut down, causing production problems for factories in many nations, including the United States.

it is not clear how long the disruption will last, or how many companies that usually use Japanese-made parts can get substitutes elsewhere.

美國商務部星期五的報告顯示，美國國民生產總值在去年最後一個季度中的增長率達到3.1%。這比預期快了0.3%。經濟學家們經常在新數據公佈後會修正他們對經濟發展的預測。

國內生產總值是經濟發展最全面的衡量數據，包括一個國家內的所有商品生產及服務。

2010年全年，美國國內生產總值增長2.9%，是5年來最大的增幅。

一些經濟學家說，本季度增長率可能會降低，因爲油價升高導致原本可以用來刺激對其他貨物和服務需求的資金有所減少。

經濟學家們還試圖估算日本海嘯和核危機會給美國經濟增長帶來的影響。一些製造汽車、電子產品和飛機部件的日本廠家關閉，導致美國和其他許多國家的工廠出現生產危機。

目前還不清楚日本廠家還要關閉多久，也不清楚有多少使用日本零件的公司能夠在別處找到替代品。