CNBC: Final Reading on U.S. Q4 GDP Is Up 2.9%, vs. 2.7% Growth Expected

The U.S. Commerce Department is revising the Q4 economic estimates that were previously reported. According to CNBC, economic growth slowed less than previously estimated, with the country experiencing the biggest gain in consumer spending in three years.

GDP expanded at a 2.9 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2017, which is an improvement over the 2.5 percent previously reported. The government also reported that after-tax corporate profits jumped by 1.7 percent in Q4, and that growth of consumer spending grew at a 4 percent pace. That consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, signaling to businesses and franchises that people are actively participating in the marketplace.

On that growth, CNBC reports, “That was the quickest pace since the fourth quarter of 2014 and followed a 2.2 percent rate of growth in the July-September period.”