The U.S. economy grew at 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, the U.S. Department of Economics said Thursday. It was still 3.2 percent a quarter ago, but the growth was higher than expected. Analysts at Bloomberg News had forecast 2.6 percent growth.
This is a preliminary estimate of growth for the final quarter of 2022. Private consumption, the largest component of the economy, rose 2.1 percent. That number is much lower than expected. Analysts here had expected a plus 2.9 percent. Half of GDP growth can be attributed to an increase in inventories. Government spending has also seen a huge increase since the start of 2021.
As usual in the US, these are ‘annual’ figures. Quarterly performance has been extended hypothetically over a full year when compared to the previous quarter. So the figure shows what the annual growth will be if this rate continues for another three quarters. To compare with the European method – the rate of growth compared to the previous quarter – you divide the number by four.
According to the ministry, there will be real growth of 2.1 percent throughout 2022, mainly thanks to households, compared to 2021. That year there was still 5.9 percent growth, an exceptionally high number after the corona year 2020.
This is a preliminary estimate of growth for the final quarter of 2022. Private consumption, the largest component of the economy, rose 2.1 percent. That number is much lower than expected. Analysts here had expected a plus 2.9 percent. Half of GDP growth can be attributed to an increase in inventories. Government spending also saw a huge increase from the start of 2021. As usual in the US, these are ‘annualized’ figures. Quarterly performance has been extended hypothetically over a full year when compared to the previous quarter. So the figure shows what the annual growth will be if this rate continues for another three quarters. To compare with the European method – the rate of growth compared to the previous quarter – you divide the number by four. According to the ministry, there will be real growth of 2.1 percent throughout 2022, mainly thanks to households, compared to 2021. That year there was still 5.9 percent growth, an exceptionally high number after the corona year 2020.
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