The United States Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged at an annualised 6.1%, after shrinking by 6.3% in the last three months of last year, according to a report released by the US Commerce Department, making the ongoing recession the worst in at least fifty years.

The report was released just hours before Federal Reserve officials were scheduled to convene to decide how much money to insert into the economy.

The GDP has now fallen for three quarters in a row for the first time in almost forty years. The decline is worse than the average 4.7% drop forecast by economists.

“We are likely to emerge from this recession very slowly and the recovery will be very weak. The aggressive policy response we have gotten will take time to work, but it will counter the still-strong headwinds holding the economy back,” said the chief economist at Morgan Stanley in New York, Richard Berner.

Stock market shares went up on Wednesday, following an analyst's report suggesting that non-performing assets will reach their height in 2009. As of noon, the Standard & Poor's 500 index had gained 2.2%, reaching a level of 873,59 points.

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