Economic Growth So Sluggish that the Apple iPhone 5 Could Boost GDP

Sales of the new Apple iPhone could add between a quarter and a half of a percentage point to the annualized rate of economic growth in the fourth quarter, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli estimates. 

The forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers reduced its forecasts for economic growth to a 1.5 percent annual rate in the third-quarter and 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter. 

So it is that a single smart phone going on sale for the first time can move the needle.