US growth data for the fourth quarter of 2012 was revised up again to an annualised rate of 0.4 per cent, providing further evidence that the US economy did not take a dip at the end of last year. 2012年第四季度美国增长数字再次被调高，至年化的0.4%，进一步证明美国经济去年末没有下滑。

The third revision comes after an initial estimate that the economy shrank 0.1 per cent. That was later revised to growth of 0.1 per cent. 这是该数字第三次被修正，最初的估计为收缩0.1%。后来这一数字被修正为增长0.1%。

But the quarter was still dragged down by big falls in defence spending and business inventories, both of which analysts regard as temporary, suggesting that underlying growth continued at a slow but steady 2 per cent. 但国防支出和企业库存的大幅减少仍然拖累了该季度的增长数字，分析师认为这两个因素都是暂时的，这似乎表明基本增长率仍为2%——虽然不高，但相当稳定。

The big change in the latest revision was a much higher estimate of business investment in buildings. The Bureau of Economic Analysis now estimates that it added 0.46 percentage points to the growth rate instead of a previous estimate of 0.16 percentage points before. 最新一次修订中最大的变化是，企业对建筑物的投资估值大大提高。美国经济分析局(Bureau of Economic Analysis)如今估计，这一项对增长率的贡献为0.46百分点，而非先前估计的0.16百分点。

A revival in the commercial real estate sector could add another leg to the economic recovery after a turnround in housing has helped to drive growth this year. 今年住房业出现起色，帮助推动了经济增长，而商业房地产业的复苏有望为经济增长增加新的动力。

There are signs that the private sector is now able to drive US growth of faster than 2 per cent but overall output is being held back by government spending cuts. 有迹象显示，私人部门如今有能力推动美国经济以高于2%的速度增长，但总产出受到政府减支的拖累。

The BEA also published annual estimates of profits showing a 6.8 per cent increase in the earnings of corporate America for 2012, after a 7.3 per cent increase in 2011. The figures indicate the remarkable profitability of big US companies during the economic recovery. 美国经济分析局还发布了年度利润估测，显示2012年美国企业利润增长6.8%，低于2011年的7.3%。这些数字显示，美国大型企业在经济复苏期间的盈利能力令人瞩目。

Dividends increased 11.9 per cent after a 16 per cent increase in 2011. 股息增长11.9%，低于2011年16%的增幅。