GDP in fourth quarter of 2021 grew at annualized rate of 6.9%, exceeding expectations

The Commerce Department reported Thursday the country's gross domestic product increased in the last quarter of 2021 at a 6.9% annualized pace, exceeding expectations.

The GDP, the sum of all goods and services produced in the United States. grew in the October-through-December period, despite supply chain issues and the emergence in December of COVID-19's high-contagious Omicron variant, which likely slowed growth late the fourth-quarter of 2021.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a 5.5% gain, according to CNBC. The increase also exceeded the unrevised 2.3% growth in the third quarter, the news outlet also reports. 

The quarter brought an end to a 2021 with a 5.7% increase in annualized GDP, the strongest pace since 1984 as the U.S. economy tried to rebound losses in the early stages of the pandemic.