U.S. economic growth in Q4 revised down to 2.2 pct

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2018 was revised down to an annual rate of 2.2 percent, from the previously reported 2.6 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday in its final estimate.

In the third quarter of 2018, the U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.4 percent, the department said.

The downward revision for the GDP growth in the fourth quarter reflected weaker personal consumption expenditures, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment, partly offset by a downward revision to imports, the department said.

The real GDP expanded at a 2.9 percent pace in 2018, slightly down from the Federal Reserve's (Fed's) estimation of 3 percent in December.

The U.S. economy is expected to grow at 2.1 percent in 2019, according to the Fed's latest economic projections released last week. That was slightly down from the Fed's December estimation of 2.3 percent.

A majority of U.S. economists believe the country will fall into a recession no later than in 2021, according to a survey report released late February by the National Association for Business Economics.

The report showed about 10 percent of the 281 experts surveyed expect an economic recession in the United States this year, 42 percent expect one in 2020, and 25 percent think a downturn will hit the country in 2021. That means roughly three fourths of them believe a recession will take place by the end of 2021.