According to the News on page 162 : Economy: Sharpest Decline in 26 Years The U.S. economy suffered its biggest slowdown in 26 years in the last three months of 2008, according to the government's first reading about the fourth quarter released Friday. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, fell at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter, adjusted for inflation. That's the largest drop in GDP since the first quarter of 1982, when the economy suffered a 6.4 percent decline. Hit by tight credit and soaring job losses, Americans slammed the brakes on spending in the quarter. Consumer spending fell at a 3.5 percent annual rate, which was the seventh-biggest drop on record. Spending on big-ticket durable goods plunged at a 22 percent pace, the largest d e cline since 1987. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity. -Chris Isidore Source: January 30, 2009. © 2009 Time Inc. Used under license ( a ) By what percentage did GDP decline in the fourth quarter of 2008?