The Obama administration has now revised the way that GDP is calculated, thereby increasing the last quarter's GDP from 1.3 percent to 1.7 percent. Of course, even 1.7 percent growth is quite anemic. Just a bit less so than 1.3 percent growth is. In all fairness, it should probably be noted that such a change has been under discussion for awhile now; and it appears that several other countries are going to go ahead with this revision. Still, one could easily be pardoned for suspecting political motives at work here, concerning the timing of this happy-face change. Here is a bit from MarketWatch on the subject: And the link: The new GDP methodology: What you need to know - Slide Show - MarketWatch
