The U.S. economy will grow by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2.1% for the whole year

　　China News Service, Washington, January 26 (Reporter Sha Hanting) The U.S. Department of Commerce released its first forecast data on the 26th local time, showing that the real gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States in the fourth quarter of 2022 will grow at an annual rate of 2.9%. In 2022, the annual GDP will grow by 2.1%.

　　The data showed that the U.S. GDP grew by 2.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, lower than the 3.2% growth rate in the third quarter.

For the full year of 2022, U.S. GDP will grow by 2.1%, lower than the 5.9% growth rate for the full year of 2021.

　　Specifically, in the fourth quarter of last year, personal consumption expenditures, which accounted for about 70% of the U.S. economy, grew by 2.1%, which was lower than the data in the third quarter; non-residential fixed asset investment, which reflects the investment status of enterprises, increased by 0.7%, an increase higher than that in the third quarter. The third quarter narrowed significantly; residential fixed asset investment plummeted 26.7%, the data has declined for seven consecutive quarters.

　　In addition, net exports drove economic growth in the quarter by 0.56 percentage points; private inventory investment drove economic growth in the quarter by 1.46 percentage points.

　　U.S. President Biden said on the same day that the economic data "simply couldn't be better" and "we are moving in the right direction."

　　Analysts believe that the U.S. economy will continue to slow down in the first quarter of 2023 due to the continued interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, and the economy may fall into a "slight recession" in 2023.

　　In response to inflation, the Fed will raise interest rates seven times in 2022.

In December, the Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.

　　According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor on January 12, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) in December 2022 will rise by 6.5% year-on-year, and the growth rate has declined for six consecutive months.

US media predict that as inflation "cools down", the Federal Reserve may slow down the pace of interest rate hikes at the meeting on interest rates that ends on February 1 this year.

　　The Commerce Department typically makes three estimates of quarterly economic data based on constantly improving information.

Revised economic data for the fourth quarter of last year will be released on February 23.

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