Source: money.cnn.com

The nation’s economic slide during the last three months of 2008 was even sharper than previously estimated, with the broadest gauge of economic activity suffering its worst decline in 26 years, the government reported Thursday.

Gross domestic product, which measures the output of goods and services produced in the United States, fell at an annual rate of 6.2% in the fourth quarter, adjusted for inflation, according to a preliminary report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The decline was worse than the 3.8% drop that the BEA reported in last month’s “advance” reading on fourth-quarter GDP. It was the largest drop in GDP since the first quarter of 1982, when the economy suffered a 6.4% decline.

The reading was also much worse than the 5.4% decline economists surveyed Briefing.com had expected.

“Things are just terrible out there,” said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s economy.com.

After a 0.5% decline in the third quarter, a 6.2% contraction reflects how severe the economic downturn was at the end of last year, and highlights concerns about the economy going forward.

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