US GDP grew at 2.9% pace in fourth quarter as economy cools

The U.S. economy ended 2022 on solid footing, but momentum seems to have cooled slightly as consumers confront the dual threat of stubbornly high inflation and rising interest rates.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew by 2.9% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from October through December, the Commerce Department said in its first reading of the data on Thursday. Refinitiv economists expected the report to show the economy had expanded by 2.6%. 

It marked a decline from the 3.2% pace recorded in the third quarter.