Economy Stalled in Fourth Quarter.(Brief article)

BYLINE: Thomas L. Gallagher

The U.S. Commerce Department sharply scaled back its measure of growth in the national economy for the fourth quarter, revising the gross domestic product for the last three months of the year down to a slow 2.2 percent annual rate.

The rate was down from an earlier estimate of 3.5 percent GDP growth in the fourth quarter, a relatively healthy figure that contrasted with reports from transportation companies of sluggish business toward the end of the year.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of …