U.S. economy grows 2.9% in 2018, missing Trump's 3 percent target

The U.S. economy fell short of the Trump administration’s 3% annual growth target in 2018 despite $1.5 trillion in tax cuts and a government spending blitz, and economists say growth will only slow from here.

A better-than-expected performance in the fourth quarter pushed gross domestic product up 2.9% for the year, just shy of the goal, Commerce Department data showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product reached $20.5 trillion in 2018.

The economy grew at a 2.6% annualized rate in the fourth quarter after advancing at a 3.4% pace in the July-September period. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP rising at a 2.3% rate in the fourth quarter.

Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased at a still strong 2.8% rate in the fourth quarter and 2.6% for the year.

Private investment grew at a 4.6% clip, and 6% for all of 2018. Residential construction, however, slipped 3.5% last quarter and 0.2% for the year - the first decline since 2011.

Growth in 2018 was the strongest since 2015 (2.9%) and better than the 2.2% logged in 2017. The expansion will be the longest on record in July.

At: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/u-s-economic-growth-in-2018-misses-trumps-3-percent-target-idUSKCN1QH0HO