U.S. ECONOMY GROWS 2.5% IN FOURTH QUARTER

U. S. economic growth for the final three months of 2017 stood at 2.5 per cent, slightly below the 2.6 per cent expected, according to the Commerce Department. For the entire year, GDP rose to 2.3 per cent, a significant jump from 1.5 per cent in 2016. Earlier, economists forecast that it would hit the Trump administration’s 3 per cent annual growth target, especially after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s upbeat speech before lawmakers.