The Economy Slows Down – WSJ

The Federal Reserve must have been pleased with the top numbers in Thursday’s fourth-quarter GDP report, which showed the US economy growing at a solid 2.9% while the preferred price index fell to 3.2. %. But let’s dive in and the economy looks to be losing momentum.

Perhaps the best takeaway from the report is that consumer spending continued to grow at a steady 2.1% and contributed about half of GDP growth. It doesn’t appear that rising interest rates have yet to bring consumers back, although the December retail sales report showed a sharp drop in spending and could herald a slowdown.