The US economy closed out 2016 with steady albeit unspectacular growth, according to a revised report.
The gross domestic product (GDP), the country’s total output of goods and services, grew at an annualised pace of 1.9 per cent during the fourth quarter, the commerce department reported on Tuesday. That is unchanged from a previous reading.
While the figure exceeds the pace of growth seen during the first half of 2016 it is a marked slowdown from the 3.5 per cent growth recorded during the third quarter.
Although the revised report showed that consumer spending grew at a 3 per cent rate, stronger than the 2.5 per cent initially estimated, that gain was offset by a drop in exports.
“The deceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected a downturn in exports, an acceleration in imports, and a downturn in federal government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in residential fixed investment, an acceleration in private inventory investment, and an upturn in state and local government spending,” according to the report.
Overall, the US economy grew by 1.6 per cent over 2016 as a whole, making it its weakest year in five years. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017
