March 28, 2012
The NYT reported on a revision to 4th quarter GDP data in the UK that showed the economy shrinking at a 1.2 percent annual rate rather than the 0.8 percent rate previously reported. Unfortunately, the article reported the data giving quarterly rates, so most readers probably did not recognize that the 0.3 percent decline from the third quarter translated into a 1.2 percent annual rate.
Since this is written primarily for an audience in the United States, and GDP growth numbers are always reported as annual rates, the NYT should have converted the quarterly rate so that readers would understand what the number.
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