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US: Monthly Economy Update
Our economy continues to generate strong economic growth averaging close to 3% real GDP over the past 10 quarters. This is well above the “potential long-term growth” that most economists thought the mature U.S. economy was capable of. Our economy did end last year on a slightly weaker (but still solid) 2.3% growth rate. This despite a torrid 4.2% pace from consumer spending. See Chart 1. The major culprit for the fourth quarter slowdown was from changes in inventories which are notoriously volatile from quarter to quarter. The three major components of GDP are the consumer, business investment, and government. ... (full story)