The U.S. economy shrank at its fastest pace since 1982 in the fourth quarter and corporate profits plunged a record $120.1 billion, pulled down by falling consumer spending and exports, the U.S. Commerce Department said today.

Gross domestic product, which measures the total output of goods and services within U.S. borders, fell at an annual rate of 6.3 percent in the October-December quarter, the steepest decline since the first quarter of 1982, the Commerce Department said.

The government last month estimated the fall in fourth-quarter GDP at 6.2 percent, and the modest revisions to the output estimates reflected adjustments to business inventories and investment figures, Reuters reported.

The economy expanded 1.1 percent in 2008, the smallest increase since 2001, after growing 2 percent in the prior year, the Commerce Department said.

Private business inventories were revised to show a $25.8 billion decline, previously reported as a $19.9 billion fall.

Business investment, which is typically made when companies are planning production increases, fell 21.7 percent, the biggest decline since the first quarter of 1975, from a previously estimated 21.1 percent contraction. Residential investment fell 22.8.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic economic activity, dropped 4.3 percent, unchanged from last month’s estimates. Exports were down 23.6 percent, also unrevised from last month’s report.

The department said corporate profits after taxes plummeted by a record $120.1 billion in the fourth quarter. The 10.7 percent drop was the biggest decline since the first quarter of 1994.