Money | GDP New GDP Numbers Fall Well Short of Forecasts Fourth-quarter growth revised down to a sluggish 0.7% By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Mar 13, 2026 8:45 AM CDT Copied A person shops at a grocery store in Schaumburg, Ill., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File) The US economy advanced at an unexpectedly sluggish 0.7% annual rate from October through December, the Commerce Department reported Friday in a big downgrade of its initial estimate. Growth in gross domestic product—the nation's output of goods and services—was down sharply from 4.4% in last year's third quarter and 3.8% in the second, per the AP. And the fourth-quarter number was half the government's first estimate of 1.4%. Economists had expected the revision to go the other way and reflect growth of 1.5%, per CNBC. For all of 2025, GDP grew 2.1%, solid but down from an initial estimate of 2.2% and from 2.8% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023. In the fourth quarter, consumer spending grew at a 2% clip, down from 3.5% in the third quarter and the 2.4% the government had initially estimated. Business investment, excluding housing, increased at a healthy 2.2% pace, likely reflecting money being poured into artificial intelligence, but the increase was down from 3.2% in the third quarter and from the 3.7% advance in the Commerce Department's initial estimate. Exports fell at a 3.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter, a bigger drop than the government first estimated. Friday's GDP was the second of three estimates of fourth-quarter growth. The final report is due April 9. Read These Next Country star cancels rest of his tour: 'I am mentally unwell.' Old Dominion University gunman was killed by ROTC students. Think twice if you're in the UAE recording any missile strikes. Senate approves sweeping housing bill. Report an error