ECONOMY

FOURTH-QUARTER GDP RISES 3.8%; INFLATION ACCELERATES

The American economy expanded at a 3.8% annual rate in the fourth quarter, capping the best year of growth since 1999, the Commerce Department reported. Inflation accelerated.

The final figure for gross domestic product from October through December matched the department’s previous estimate. The result, released yesterday in Washington, was less than economists forecast because of slower inventory building than the government calculated last month.

The gauge the government uses to adjust GDP for inflation was revised higher, adding to evidence that price pressures are building as the Federal Reserve said last week. Consumer and corporate spending are helping keep growth above the 3.3% annual average of the past decade, even as oil and gasoline prices set records. The economy expanded 4.4% last year.

– Bloomberg News

CITY

METLIFE SELLS 1 MADISON AVENUE

MetLife, the biggest American life insurer, agreed to sell the New York City landmark 1 Madison Avenue to SL Green Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust specializing in Manhattan properties, for $918 million.

The two-building complex at 1 Madison was the world’s tallest from its completion in 1909 until 1913, when it was surpassed by the Woolworth Building. Designed by Pierre Le Brun, the 54-story clock tower was meant to evoke the campanile in Venice’s Piazza San Marco. MetLife expects the sale to result in a gain of more than $420 million and won’t affect earnings, spokesman Chris Breslin said. New York-based MetLife will no longer have an ownership interest or significant lease presence in the building after the transaction is completed, Mr. Breslin said.

– Bloomberg News

TECHNOLOGY

TIME WARNER CABLE TO TEST TV-REPLAY SERVICE

Time Warner Inc.’s cable television unit plans to test a service that replays a TV program any time during its broadcast, an alternative to digital video recorders from companies including TiVo Inc. Time Warner Cable, the second-largest American cable operator, is negotiating with television networks so it can tape programs for the new Start Over service, the chief executive, Glenn Britt, 56, said yesterday at a Banc of America Securities conference in New York. Some networks already have signed up, he said. “You come home at 9:15, realize there’s a show you wanted to see that started at 9, you could then hit Start Over and watch the show as if it had just started,” Mr. Britt said. “We did consumer testing and it tests off the charts.”

– Bloomberg News

ADVERTISING

EBAY NAMES OMNICOM’S BBDO AS ITS ADVERTISING AGENCY

EBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, named Omnicom Group’s BBDO as its advertising agency, replacing Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The company ended its five-year relationship with San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein, another Omnicom agency, after deciding it wanted a new agency that could manage its marketing across several outlets, an eBay spokesman Henry Gomez said. BBDO will help direct an integrated marketing effort on television, the Internet and with print ads and direct mail, Mr. Gomez said. EBay’s advertising is its largest operating expense and Internet advertising has become a bigger factor in directing buyers to the site in the last five years.

– Bloomberg News