Monetary Policy and Revised Figures

: The new figures suggest the US economy may be able to withstand a global slowdown better than many economists anticipated despite problems in the once booming shale oil industry, according to The Guardian. The revised figures could give the Washington policymakers stronger footing to continue to tighten monetary policy even as central banks in Europe and Japan loosen monetary policy in an effort to boost economic growth. US gross domestic product increased by 1% in the fourth quarter of 2015, up from initial estimates of 0.7%. The upward revision surprised economists and analysts who had expected the figure to be revised down to 0.4%, helping to lift stocks in early trading. It comes as the International Monetary Fund warned earlier this week that it is likely to further cut its global growth forecasts. The US GDP data suggests a strong jobs market and still rising US house prices are providing an offset to weak growth overseas. Just last month the IMF cut the growth forecast from 3.6% to 3.4%. Global activity has slowed unexpectedly at the end of 2015, and it has weakened further in early 2016 amid falling asset prices, the IMF said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.