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An unanticipated slowdown; BlackBerry tries a makeover; Boeing told of faulty batteries; Stocks trend toward new highs; Judge okays BP settlement

Economy: An unanticipated slowdown

The U.S. economy “unexpectedly reversed course in the final quarter of 2012,” said Nelson D. Schwartz in The New York Times. The Commerce Department said the nation’s gross domestic product declined at an annualized rate of 0.1 percent from September to December, a steep drop from the 3.1 percent growth rate reported earlier in the year. It was the economy’s worst quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2009. Economists said the surprise contraction was brought on by weaker exports, reduced military spending, and a “steep slowdown in the buildup of inventories” by businesses unsure of how much to invest during the country’s still uncertain recovery.

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