The U.S. economy grew at a weaker-than-expected 3.1 percent annual pace in the final quarter of 2004, its slowest since the beginning of the prior year, but for all of 2004 the economy expanded at its fastest clip since 1999, a sign that the recovery is deeply rooted.

The Commerce Department’s latest gross domestic product figures showed the increase in fourth-quarter GDP was down from a 4 percent gain in the third quarter and was the weakest since a 1.9 percent pace in the first quarter of 2003.

But GDP for the 12 months of 2004 increased by 4.4 percent in 2004, up from 3 percent in 2003, making its best showing since 1999, when the economy grew by 4.5 percent.

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