GDP Slows in Final Quarter of 2024

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued its latest report, indicating that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the advance estimate. However in the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent. The slower increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.