The economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday in a revised estimate of Gross Domestic Product.
The figure was a revision down from the previously estimated growth rate of 2.6 percent.
It also is significantly lower than the strong growth the economy enjoyed earlier in 2018, and suggests that commerce is slowing to begin 2019.
The U.S. economy grew by 2.2% at the annual rate in the 4th quarter, slipping somewhat from the earlier estimate of 2.6%. The slight easing in growth came from downward revisions to goods spending, housing, and state and local government spending, enough to offset better imports. pic.twitter.com/DffMKknnzq
— Chad Moutray (@chadmoutray) March 28, 2019
Including Friday’s revised numbers, GDP grew 3 percent from the end of 2017 to the end of 2018, revised down from 3.1 percent — just barely meeting President Trump’s target of 3 percent annual growth.
By a different measure of annual GDP growth, averaging out growth over the four quarters, GDP just missed the 3 percent target, at 2.9 percent.
Economists expect the economy to cool in the months ahead. Federal Reserve officials, for instance, see GDP growth slowing to just 2.1 percent in 2019. In the years ahead, it will be more difficult to reach 3 percent growth because of slower labor force growth due to the aging of the population.
Nevertheless, other indicators suggest that the economy remains strong. The unemployment rate is just 3.8 percent, and employers have added an average of 186,000 jobs per month over the last 3 months — about twice as many as needed to keep unemployment falling.
[Read more: White House claims victory on 2018 economic growth, aims higher for 2019]
