U.S. GDP Growth Revised Down to 2.2% Rate in Fourth Quarter
Spending by consumers, state and local governments and businesses was revised lower
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-gdp-growth-revised-down-to-2-2-rate-in-fourth-quarter-11553776293
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced across the economy, rose at a 2.2% annual rate in the fourth quarter, adjusted for seasonality and inflation, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That was in line with economists’ expectations.
The agency had estimated earlier fourth-quarter growth at a 2.6% annual rate.
Spending by consumers, state and local governments and businesses was revised lower, while foreign trade exerted a slightly smaller drag on growth compared with last month’s estimate.
“The slowdown in GDP growth, from 3.4% in the third quarter, is a straightforward story about the end of the kick from tax cuts, which was never going to last long,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note to clients, referring to the 2017 sweeping tax overhaul bill.
