U.S. Economy and Business

Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention (©AP/WWP/Wilfredo Lee)

"The U.S. economy made notable progress in 2003, propelled forward by
pro-growth policies that led to a marked strengthening of activity
in the second half of the year and put the United States on a path
for higher sustained output growth in the years to come.

The recovery was still tenuous coming into 2003, as continued fallout
from powerful contractionary forces - the capital overhang, corporate
scandals, and uncertainty about future economic and geopolitical
conditions - was offset by stimulus from expansionary monetary policy
and the Administration's 2001 tax cut and 2002 fiscal package.
The contractionary forces dissipated over the course of 2003, and
the expansionary forces were augmented by the Jobs and Growth Tax
Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) that was signed into law at the
end of May.

The economy appears to have moved into a full-fledged recovery,
with real gross domestic product (GDP), the most comprehensive
measure of the output of the U.S. economy, expanding at an annual
rate of more than 8 percent in the third quarter of the year. Based
on data available through the middle of January, a further solid
gain appears likely in the fourth quarter (the GDP estimate for the
fourth quarter was released after this Report went to press). Job
growth, however, began to pick up only late in 2003."

From the Economic Report of the President 2004