4th Quarter GDP Beats Market Estimates; Consumers, Government Drive Growth

Financial markets dismissed fourth-quarter numbers and look toward first-quarter data.

People shop at a grocery store in New York City on March 12, 2025. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

New government data show that the U.S. economy slowed in the fourth quarter but still finished 2024 on a solid footing.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate for the fourth quarter of last year, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was 2.4 percent, down from the previous quarter’s 3.1 percent.