The White House Photo: Xinhua

The US' GDP  declined 3.5 percent in 2020 on a yearly basis, according to statistics released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday. The record decline is the first negative reading since 2009 and the lowest since 1946.

Preliminary estimates of annualized real GDP of the US in the fourth quarter stood at 4.0 percent, which was 1.0 percent on a yearly basis. Previous annualized third quarter real GDP declined 33.4 percent.

US Department of Commerce contributed part of the decline to increases in exports, which primarily reflected an increase in goods led by industrial supplies and materials. 

US exports to China in 2020 totaled $134.908 billion, up 9.8 percent year-on-year, according to data from China's customs.

Analysts said that the low growth in the fourth quarter was due to a rebound of the epidemic and lack of expenditure plans that held back consumer spending, which partly overshadowed manufacturing and housing markets that were expected to see stronger growth.

The preliminary estimate of real personal consumption expenditure for the fourth quarter was 2.5 percent, below the expected 3.1 percent. Personal incomes also declined $339.7 billion in the fourth quarter.

"Although the US economy has begun to recover, the recovery has shown signs of weakness. Consumer purchasing power fell sharply in December, with newly added nonfarm payrolls turning negative for the first time since April, and retail sales falling month-on-month, suggesting that labor market weakness may have eroded consumer purchasing power," a financial freelancer based in Beijing told the Global Times, adding that the market is expecting more stimulus packages.

IMF estimated that the US economy contracted 3.4 percent in 2020, while projecting a 5.1 percent growth in 2021 and 2.5 percent in 2022, according to the World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday. Meanwhile, IMF estimates China's economy will grow 2.3 percent in 2020 and projects an 8.1 percent growth in 2021 and 5.6 percent growth in 2022.

Global Times