Figures released Wednesday show U.S. economic growth slowed less than previously estimated in the fourth quarter. This, as the biggest gain in consumer spending in three years partially offset the drag from a surge in imports.
The U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at a 2.9% annual rate in the final three months of 2017, instead of the previously reported 2.5%, a slight moderation from the third quarter's brisk 3.2% pace.
The upward revision to the fourth-quarter growth estimate also reflected less inventory reduction than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had expected that fourth-quarter GDP growth would be revised up to a 2.7% rate. The economy grew 2.3% in 2017, an acceleration from the 1.5% logged in 2016.
The government also reported that after-tax corporate profits increased at a 1.7% rate in the fourth quarter after rising at a 5.7% pace in the third quarter.
Washington said while provisions of the income tax overhaul that came into effect in January had no effect on corporate profits for current production, they had impacted on net cash flow in the fourth quarter.
An alternate measure of growth, gross domestic income, rose at a 0.9% rate in the October-December period. GDI expanded at a 2.4% rate in the third quarter.
