The US Gross Domestic Product report for the fourth quarter of 2022 provides a quick snapshot of the US economy, and many economists are concerned regarding the possibility of a recession in the US.
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US GDP report: economic slowdown and recession fears
newspaper reported Wall Street Journal The US GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2022 provides a quick snapshot of the economy at the end of the year.
According to the figures mentioned by the newspaper, quoting a statement from the US Department of Commerce, “economic growth slowed in the United States to 2.9% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter.”
“The year-end US gross domestic product (GDP) growth declined slightly to 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter,” the ministry added.
The US ministry also stated that “economic output grew by 1% in the last quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year, and this compares to growth of 5.7% in 2021, and 2.6% in 2019 before the pandemic.”
This year, consumers and businesses faced the highest rate of inflation in four decades and a rapid rise in interest rates. The three months from October to December witnessed an economic slowdown, as consumers spent at a slower pace, employers backed out of hiring and the housing market weakened, according to the newspaper.
And the newspaper considered that “consumers, the main engine of the economy, spent strongly in the past year on services such as travel and eating out, to which they had returned earlier in the epidemic, while their spending on goods decreased, but it remained higher than the levels of the outbreak of the pandemic.”
She also said that “despite signs of resilience, many economists are concerned regarding the possibility of a recession in the United States this year.”
She added that “many economists expect the Federal Reserve to rein in high inflation through rapid interest rate increases, which will lead to broad cuts in spending and job losses.”
