Economic activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in the final three months of 2012, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, with GDP falling for the first time in over three years.

The report showed that GDP edged down by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter after surging up by 3.1 percent in the third quarter. The modest drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected GDP to increase by about 1.0 percent.