U.S. Economy Grew 2.6% in the Fourth Quarter

Consumer spending pulled back from the third quarter.

A year of strong economic growth in 2018 ended on a softer but still solid note, with the nation’s economic output slowing from boom-like conditions at midyear to a modest pace.

Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the goods and services produced across the U.S., rose at a 2.6% annual rate in October through December, adjusted for seasonality and inflation, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a 2.2% reading.