In the face of widespread prognostications of a coming recession, the U.S. economy wrapped up 2023 with a bang as real gross domestic product, or GDP, grew by an annual rate of 3.3% in the last quarter and the year ended with 2.5% annualized growth, according to a Commerce Department report Thursday.
Robust consumer spending and a labor market that remained resilient throughout 2023 helped buoy an economy that was beset by ongoing inflation, rising costs related to housing and elevated interest rates, including the highest credit card rates on record.
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“This year has been like Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots, and the economy is knocking the blocks off the economists, always outperforming,” Dan North, senior economist with Allianz Trade Americas, told CNBC.
North added that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “has got to have a smirk on his face this morning. Again, he’s defying the economists’ predictions with strong growth and inflation clearly coming under control.”