US Economic Growth Slows To 2.6 Percent In Q4

The U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of last year to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent, the slowest pace since the beginning of 2018, as the government shutdown and other factors took a toll on growth. Economists believe growth has slowed even more in the current quarter. Growth in the gross domestic product in the October-December quarter was down from a 3.4 percent gain in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The government cited slower consumer spending as the biggest factor in the slowdown. The 35-day government shutdown shaved an estimated 0.1 percentage point from growth in the fourth quarter. GDP growth for all of 2018 came in at 2.9 percent, the best showing in three years since 2015. The current expansion, now in its tenth year, is the second longest in U.S. history. But it has featured the weakest annual growth rates of any recovery in the post-World War II period, with growth averaging just above 2 percent.