Told ya so…..
Despite all the Trump people’s rah, RAH that the American economy is booming?
THAT is NOT what is going on….
Phony tax cut…..
Over weight budget….
Wage gains that ain’t…..
Trump trade wars…..
Even cut backs in immigration ….
AND a 35 day partial government shutdown for a border wall piece of real estate with Trump’s name on it?
Folks?
The last vestiges of President Obama are evaporating….
That includes the high for the last 10 years in the American economy….
A New York City Real Estate guy and Republicans ain’t helping…..
The American economy slowed at the end of 2018 — and there could be a further slowdown to come.
Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of goods and services produced in the United States — grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the final three months of last year, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That marks a significant slowdown from the middle of the year, when a sugar high fueled by tax cuts and government spending increases briefly pushed growth above 4 percent.
This year looks to be off to an even worse start. Many economists expect growth to drop below 2 percent in the first quarter, in part because of the partial government shutdown, which began in December and extended through most of January.
The shutdown also had another effect: It delayed the release of much government data, including the G.D.P. report itself, which came out a month later than usual. That has made it harder for forecasters and policymakers to keep tabs on the economy at what could turn out to be a pivotal moment.
It’s important to keep the cooling economy in perspective. The fourth-quarter slowdown wasn’t as severe as many forecasters had feared, and even with the loss of momentum late in the year, 2018 as a whole was among the best years of the decade-long recovery from the Great Recession. And most economists do not expect a recession this year, putting current expansion on track to become the longest on record.
“I think this is a slowing,” said Lewis Alexander, chief United States economist for Nomura. “I don’t think this is ‘we’re falling into an abyss.’”
A strong year — but how strong?
Thursday’s report did give President Trump some bragging rights — albeit with an asterisk.
Economic output rose 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. That’s a politically salient benchmark because Mr. Trump and his advisers have repeatedly promised growth of 3 percent or better, something his predecessor never achieved over a full calendar year.
Still, Mr. Trump didn’t quite score a clear victory. By another commonly used method of calculating annual growth — which looks at G.D.P. over full years, not just comparing the fourth quarter of each year — the economy fell just short of that benchmark, coming in at 2.9 percent. Don’t be surprised if Democrats and Republicans issue dueling news releases, each highlighting the figure that serves them best.
Whether growth hits 3 percent might matter politically, but it makes little difference economically. The difference between 2.9 percent and 3 percent growth is negligible in any one year, and, in any case, the Commerce Department will revise its fourth-quarter estimate in March.