WASHINGTON — U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter last year to an annual rate of just 2.2 percent. There are concerns that growth has slowed even more in the first quarter this year as global weakness, fading government stimulus and rising trade tensions take a toll on the economy.
The increase in the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, was revised down from an initial estimate of 2.6 percent growth in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The change reflected weakness in several areas. Consumer spending, business investment, government spending and housing all came in lower than first thought.
Economists believe growth has slowed further in the current January-March quarter. That would represent a very slow start to 2019 with analysts forecasting growth this year will slip to around 2.4 percent, down from last year’s 2.9 percent gain, which had been the best performance since 2015.
Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, called the GDP report “somewhat disappointing” but said some of the fourth quarter slowdown came from the 35-day partial government shutdown.
