The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said in December that the U.S. economy declined in the third quarter of 2008, according to preliminary estimates. BEA said real gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the third quarter after increasing 2.8 percent in the second quarter. The downturn primarily reflected a sharp drop in consumer spending, a deceleration in exports, a smaller decrease in imports, and decelerations in nonresidential structures and in state and local government spending.