The US economy grew rapidly in the fourth quarter thanks to strong consumer spending, but appears to have lost some speed at the start of the new year, the US government confirmed on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, in its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth, said GDP rose at an annual rate of 3.2% in the fourth quarter, down slightly from the previously reported 3.3%.
Economists surveyed Reuters They expected that GDP growth would not be revised. This modest downward adjustment reflects a decline in investment in private stocks.
Inflation was fairly moderate in the fourth quarter, although revised slightly higher than previously reported estimates.
The economy grew at a rate of 4.9% in the July-September quarter. It expands 2.5% in 2023, accelerating from 1.9% in 2022, and growing above what Federal Reserve officials consider a non-inflationary growth rate of 1.8%.
However, there are signs that momentum has waned.
Retail sales, homebuilding, durable goods orders and factory production fell in January. Part of the weakness in last month's data is due to low temperatures, as well as difficulties in adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations earlier in the year. Economists do not expect a recession.
Financial markets expect the Fed to begin cutting interest rates in June. Since March 2022, the US central bank has raised the cost of credit by 525 basis points, to the current range of 5.25% to 5.50%.
With information from Reuters.
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