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U.S. downgrades Q4 economic growth, but still solid at 2.5 percent

By Ed Adamczyk
The gross domestic product for the United States for the fourth quarter of 2017 was revised Wednesday, downward, to a 2.5 percent annual growth rate, the Commerce Department said. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The gross domestic product for the United States for the fourth quarter of 2017 was revised Wednesday, downward, to a 2.5 percent annual growth rate, the Commerce Department said. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The Commerce Department on Wednesday revised downward the U.S. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 2017 -- to a 2.5 percent annual rate.

The estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis was "based on more complete source data than were available for the 'advance' estimate issued last month," a statement said.

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Initial estimates put the annual growth rate at 2.6 percent. Officials said a recount of inventories and new Agriculture Department data on farm inventories account for most of the revision.

The gross domestic product is a bellwether figure used to determine the overall health of a country's economy.

Figures show that consumer spending, at 70 percent the largest sector of the U.S. economy, grew 3.8 percent, and nonresidential fixed investment grew 6.6 percent. Inventories reduced the gross domestic product by 0.7 percent, the department said. All factored into the revised figure.

The data also noted an increase in household spending, business spending, wages and government spending. Inflation in 2017 was about 2 percent, which is roughly on target with goals set by the Federal Reserve.

Even with the revision, the U.S. economy ended the year "on a solid note," the BEA said.

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