U.S. economic growth jumps 5.7 percent in fourth quarter of 2009

U.S. economic growth jumps 5.7 percent in fourth quarter of 2009

The U.S. economy grew at 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, stoking hopes for an economic recovery.

The growth was higher than expected, and could give a boost to President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress whose political fortunes are tied to an improving economy. The jump in growth is the largest reported since the third quarter of 2003.

Christine Romer, chairwoman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said it was the "most positive news to date on the economy" in a statement Friday morning.

Romer also credited the $787 billion stimulus package approved last year for some of the growth.

"This broad-based rise in GDP was surely fueled in part by the tax cuts and investment spending in the Recovery Act and other rescue actions, but some appears to be the result of private sector demand returning," she said.