GDP Revised Lower; Jobless Claims Drop
Thursday, December 22, 12:02 PM ET

The Commerce Department released its final figure for third quarter gross domestic product today, and said the economy grew at a 1.8% annualized rate, a downward provision from its prior estimate of 2% growth.

Economists had expected the GDP figure to remain at 2%.

On the brighter side, initial jobless claims data fell again this week, extending last week's big decline and hitting a new low level since April 2008.

The Labor Department said first-time filings for unemployment benefits fell by 4,000, to a seasonally adjusted 364,000 in the week ended December 17.

The four-week moving average declined as well.

Gold is trading lower, leading the SPDR Gold Shares (AMEX:GLD) to trade down about .7%, and the iShares Gold Trust (AMEX:IAU) to trade down .6%.

Stocks are trending higher, with the SPDR S&P 500 (AMEX:SPY) trading up over .6%.

The U.K. said today its economy grew at a 0.6% annual rate in the third quarter, better than previously reported.

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index Fund (AMEX:EWU), with top holdings Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) and HSBC (NYSE:HBC) is trading up over .7% Thursday.