XPost: alt.politics.trump, sac.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: alt.politics.economics   
   From: someone@outlook.com   
      
   After humming along at a robust pace for much of 2025, the economy hit a   
   wall in the fourth quarter, with a six-week government shutdown and   
   slowdown in consumer spending stunting growth at the end of the year.   
      
   Gross domestic product — which measures the nation's output of goods and   
   services — grew at a meager 1.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the   
   Commerce Department said Friday. That came in well under economists'   
   forecasts of roughly 2% growth and is down sharply from the previous three   
   months, when the economy expanded at a blistering 4.4% pace.   
      
   Yet while the GDP number was weaker than expected, analysts say the   
   economy remains on firm ground and is likely to accelerate in the coming   
   months.   
      
   "Today's headline number is certainly disappointing," eToro U.S.   
   investment analyst Bret Kenwell told CBS News. "When you peel back the   
   layers a little bit, it's not quite as bad as it appears on the surface."   
      
   The latest GDP data, which was delayed due to the recent government   
   shutdown, was the first snapshot of fourth-quarter economic growth. The   
   Commerce Department will deliver two more readings for the quarter in the   
   coming months.   
      
   The government also released the Personal Consumption Expenditures, or   
   PCE, report on Friday, the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of   
   inflation. Headline PCE grew at an annual rate of 2.9% in December, a sign   
   that inflation remains sticky.   
      
   Here are other key takeaways from Friday's GDP report.   
      
   Government shutdown tipped the scales   
   The main reason the economy slumped in the final three months of 2025,   
   according to economists: the 43-day government shutdown last year, during   
   which hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed and federal   
   funding for a range of programs came to a halt.   
      
   Gregory Daco, chief economist at consulting firm EY-Parthenon, in an email   
   called the shutdown a "self-inflicted black eye."   
      
   "The disappointing end to the year largely reflected a self-inflicted drag   
   from the longest government shutdown in U.S. history," he said.   
      
   The lapse in federal spending lasted for nearly half of the fourth   
   quarter, stretching from October to early November. According to Friday's   
   GDP report, the shutdown reduced fourth-quarter growth by about 1   
   percentage point, largely due to a reduction in federal government   
   services. The shutdown also contributed to a steep drop in government   
   spending in the fourth quarter.   
      
   Consumers pulled back on spending   
   A slowdown in consumer spending also modestly weighed on economic activity   
   last quarter. Spending rose by 2.4% in the final three months of the year,   
   down from 2.9% in the third quarter.   
      
   "Spending didn't fall off a cliff, but it certainly slowed and decelerated   
   from the pace we had earlier this year," Kenwell said.   
      
   Consumer spending is the nation's main engine of growth, accounting for   
   around two-thirds of economic activity.   
      
   Economists expect a rebound   
   Friday's GDP print comes as other sectors of the economy display strength.   
   Job growth came in higher than expected last month, with employers adding   
   130,000 positions. Inflation is also cooling.   
      
   With the 2025 government shutdown in the rearview mirror, analysts expect   
   the economy to rebound this year. Investment advisory firm Capital   
   Economics expects the economy to grow at a 3% annual rate in the first   
   quarter of 2026.   
      
   Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, also thinks the   
   economy will pick up because of softening tariff pressures and ongoing tax   
   cuts, which he said will boost spending.   
      
   "We expect a sharp rebound in the coming months, driven by a larger tax   
   refund season," he said in a research note.   
      
   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gdp-economic-growth-gdp-fourth-quarter/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)