The report made a sharp downward revision in the October estimate, which was originally depicted as a gain of 1.6 percent.

That follows a sharp downward revision of January's number to 637,000 from 695,000.

The big surprise was a sharp upward revision in the January numbers.

The February figure represented a sharp revision from the 5.7 percent rate estimated earlier and made the month the weakest in a year.

In general, the government's sharp downward revision of growth in the final months of last year came as little surprise.

For many analysts, it was not the size of the exposure, but the sharp revision that unnerved them.

The productivity optimists had expected a sharp upward revision.

But the implied strength was nullified by a sharp revision in the job growth figures for October.

The number is a sharp upward revision and one that points up how much there is still to learn about human genetic programming.

August's net debt increase totaled $2.66 billion, a sharp revision from the $3.48 billion originally reported last month.