US economy grew at a shocking pace in the fourth quarter

The US economy remained shockingly robust in the fourth quarter to close out a remarkably strong 2023.

Gross domestic product, a measure of all the services and goods and produced, rose at a seasonally adjusted, annualized 3.3% rate from October through December. That was slower than the 4.9% rate from July through September, when American consumers splashed out on services and goods.

The fourth quarter’s rate trounced the 1.5% that economists were expecting, according to FactSet estimates.

Thursday’s GDP report shows that the US economy has cooled some in recent months, but it’s not clear if that was enough of a slowdown to keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates any time soon.

This story is developing and will be updated.