The Commerce Department reported that higher levels of spending by consumers and businesses resulted in an upward revision to U.S. economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2011, the annualized rate of 2.8 percent that was reported a month ago revised up to 3.0 percent in the second of three estimates for the period.

Rising business inventories continued to be the most important factor in producing the best performance by the U.S. economy in a year-and-a-half as this volatile component accounted for a full 1.9 percentage points of the overall 3.0 percent growth rate. Personal spending accounted for 1.5 percentage points, due primarily to rising auto sales, while government spending subtracted 0.9 percentage points from the total.