US economy grew at moderate 2.1% rate in fourth quarter

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a moderate 2.1% rate in the final three months of 2019, capping a year when growth slowed significantly due to a weaker global economy and trade war uncertainties.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the fourth quarter increase in the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, matched the 2.1% gain of the third quarter. Both quarters were well below the 3.1% surge seen in the first quarter.

For the October-December quarter, growth was supported by solid but slower consumer spending and an improvement in the trade deficit. Those factors offset a further drop in business investment in new plants and equipment and a slowdown in restocking store shelves.

For the whole year, GDP increased 2.3%, the weakest performance in three years and a slowdown from a 2.9% gain in 2018 when the economy got a boost from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and billions of dollars in increased government spending.

Economists look for even slower growth in 2020 of around 1.8%. But that outcome could be threatened by various threats from a spreading coronavirus in China to a flare-up in trade tensions between the United States and China.

Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press