US Economy Grew 2.1% Last Year, Down From 5.9% In 2021 - Final GDP Reading

The US economy grew 2.1% last year, slowing from a 5.9% expansion in 2021, as exports and consumer spending declined, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its final reading for gross domestic product in 2022

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2023) The US economy grew 2.1% last year, slowing from a 5.9% expansion in 2021, as exports and consumer spending declined, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its final reading for gross domestic product in 2022.

GDP in the fourth quarter of last year grew by 2.6%, a shade lower than the earlier estimate of 2.7%. The Commerce Department issues three GDP readings for each quarter.

Growth in the preceding third quarter of 2022 was 3.2%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a unit with the Commerce Department, said in a news release.

The lower readings for both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter GDP were due to shrinking shipment of US-made goods and weaker spending by Americans, who command about 70% of economic activity.

"The revision primarily reflected downward revisions to exports and consumer spending," the release said. "Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down."

For 2023, the Federal Reserve has projected GDP growth at an even slower 0.4% as the economy adjusts to the possibility of a recession.