Washington, Feb 28: The US economy kicked into high gear last year, growing at a rate unsurpassed in 13 years, in the wake of sweeping tax cuts and fiscal stimulus, government statistics showed Friday.
But the world's largest economy was slowing toward the end of 2018, suggesting the boom had begun to fade, according to the Commerce Department report.
GDP expanded by 2.9 percent in 2018 — the same rate as in 2015 and the highest since 2005 — up from 2.2 percent the year before, approaching the target set by President Donald Trump.
But in the October-December period growth tapered down to an annual rate of 2.6 percent, from 3.4 percent in the third quarter.
The fourth-quarter result, which marked the second quarterly slowdown in a row, was still better than expected, as economists had predicted lackluster consumer spending over the holiday period would take a deeper cut out of growth.
The robust data could lend support to Trump and to his critics simultaneously, showing unmistakable economic gains last year, amid brisk job creation, but also supporting the view that this may have been a temporary boost purchased with skyrocketing federal deficits.
