Economists expect that real GDP grew about 2.3% in the period, below the third quarter’s growth rate, due to a trade deficit in goods.

The U.S. economy expanded throughout 2024, but growth slowed in the last three months of the year as businesses pulled back on investments and exported fewer goods overseas.

The U.S. grew at a mild 2.3% annual pace in the final three months of 2024, but the details of the report showed an economy on strong footing as the Biden administration handed off to the Trump White House.

Economic growth in the US slowed at the end of last year, as trade and investment declined and the country was hit by hurricanes and labour strikes. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.3% between October and December, down from 3.1% in the three months before, according to the US Commerce Department.

U.S. economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as a strike at Boeing depressed business investment in equipment, but consumer spending increased at its fastest pace in nearly two years, underscoring strong domestic demand that probably keeps the Federal Reserve on a slow interest rate cut path this year.

U.S. real Gross Domestic Product increased 2.3% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a Thursday report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Third quarter GDP was 3.1%.

U.S. economic growth likely slowed in the fourth quarter as imports surged and a strike at Boeing hurt spending on aircraft, though strong domestic demand will probably keep the Federal Reserve on a shallow interest rate cut path this year.