US economic growth for last quarter of 2022 revised down to 2.6%

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2022 was revised downward to 2.6%, according to the Commerce Department’s third and final reading released on Thursday.

The first reading for the figure on Jan. 26 was 2.9%, while the second on Feb. 23 was revised down to 2.7%.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 3.2% in the third quarter of last year.

Overall, real GDP gained 2.1% in 2022, significantly down from an expansion of 5.9% in 2021.

"The increase in real GDP in 2022 primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment and federal government spending," the department said in a statement.

Current-dollar GDP jumped 9.2%, or $2.15 trillion, in 2022 to reach $25.46 trillion.

The slowdown in real GDP last year sprang from the Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening policy, which saw multiple rate hikes during the course of 2022, stoking fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.