Chart of the Day: GDP Growth in Q4

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Real GDP increased 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter:

For the year, GDP increased 2.9 percent:

So close! But GDP didn’t quite grow 3 percent as President Trump has been insisting it would. Maybe next year.

Still, not a bad year overall, and not too bad a final quarter. It looks like the Republican tax cut gave the economy a quick boost for a couple of quarters but then petered out. Maybe next time they’ll be more careful to time its benefits for election season.