The nation's gross domestic product expanded at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2010, a bit faster than the previous estimate of 2.8 percent growth, the Bureau of Economic Analysis just reported.

Since the summer of 2009, when the economy officially emerged from its latest recession, GDP has now expanded for six straight quarters:

GDP

Second-quarter, 2009: - 0.7 percent.

Third-quarter 2009: + 1.6 percent.

Fourth-quarter 2009: + 5 percent

First-quarter 2010: + 3.7 percent

Second-quarter 2010: + 1.7 percent

Third-quarter 2010: + 2.6 percent

Fourth-quarter 2010: + 3.1 percent

(Note: All changes are expressed as annual rates. Source: BEA.gov.)

The Associated Press cautions that "rising oil prices will likely limit growth this year." Bloomberg News notes that "the upward revision to growth was paced by a bigger increase in business investment and a smaller slowdown in stockpiling than previously estimated."

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