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 downward revision of 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 of imports, The department said.

The latest data showed that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of The economy, increased at a 2.5 percent annual pace from October to December, weaker than previously estimated 2.8 percent. Consumer spending grew at a 3.5 percent annual pace in The third quarter.

Analysts believe that The fading effects of tax cuts and slower government spending were among The factors that dragged down The fourth-quarter growth.

The real GDP expanded 2.9 percent in 2018, falling short of The Trump administration's 3-percent annual growth target.

According to The March 2019 National Association of Business Economics Outlook Survey released Monday, U.S. economic growth is projected to slow to 2.4 percent in 2019 and furTher decelerate to 2.0 percent in 2020.

U.S. protectionist trade policy toward its major trading partners coupled with a sluggish growth pace of The world GDP have been cited as The main reasons for The slowdown.

In its latest economic projections released last week, The Federal Reserve cut its forecast of The U.S. economic growth in 2019 and 2020, expecting a rate of 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Last week, The Fed left interest rates unchanged after concluding a two-day policy meeting, maintaining The target range for The federal funds rate at 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent.

Addressing a press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said The policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) believes that The central bank "should be patient" in assessing The need for any change in The stance of policy.

Rate projections released after The policy meeting showed that 11 of The 17 officials who participated in setting interest-rate policy didn't predict any rate hikes this year.

In a separate statement, The Fed said it intends to conclude The balance sheet runoff at The end of September. It has trimmed its balance sheet from 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars at its peak time to The current 4.1 trillion dollars.