WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The annual pace of economic growth in the U.S. was marked up in the fourth quarter to 1% from 0.7%, mostly because of a bigger stockpiling of inventories. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected gross domestic product — the value of everything a nation produces — to be reduced to 0.4%. The value of inventories, which adds to GDP, rose by $81.7 billion instead of $68.6 billion as initially reported, the Commerce Department said Friday. Part of the upward revision appeared reflect a technical change in how inventories are calculated, but it might also suggest companies got stuck with more unsold goods than they expected. Consumers boosted spending by 2% in the fourth quarter, but that was down from an initial 2.2% estimate and it was much weaker compared with the spring and fall. Businesses also spent less. Investment in equipment sank a revised 6.6% and outlays on structures such as drilling rigs and office space slipped 1.9%. Crowded warehouse shelves might not bode well for first-quarter growth: firms could cut back on production early in the year to bring inventories into line. Meanwhile, exports fell a steeper 2.7% instead of 2.5%, though trade was less of a drag on GDP because imports actually dropped 0.6%. Originally the government said imports increased 1.1%. Inflation as measured by the PCE price index rose at a 0.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter, up from an earlier 0.1% estimate.

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