Real GDP increased 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a new report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  For the year, real GDP rose 1.7 percent.  From the report:

The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, residential fixed investment, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from federal government spending and state and local government spending.  Imports, which are a subtraction in the
calculation of GDP, increased.

The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an upturn in private inventory investment and accelerations in PCE and in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, a downturn in federal government spending, an acceleration in imports, and a larger decrease in state and local government spending.

Here is a look at the ups and downs of real GDP over the last 4 years:

Real GDP increased 3.0 percent in 2010.  The BEA report lists drops in inventory investment and government spending--"the annual decline was the largest decline since 1971"--as primary reasons for the slowdown.

Read the full release from the BEA here.