The U.S. economy experienced its most violent contraction in a generation during the fourth quarter, with real gross domestic product plunging at a 6.3% annualized seasonally adjusted rate, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its third estimate of quarterly growth. The slump in the economy was broad based, with declines in every major sector except the federal government. Corporate profits fell at the fastest pace since 1953. Final sales to domestic purchasers - domestic demand - fell at a 5.8% annual rate, the biggest drop since 1980. The big revision came from inventories, where a small increase in stockpiles that was originally reported turned into a small decline in the final revision.
