Surge in consumer spending drove GDP growth in Q4 of 2024

The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy annual 2.4% pace the last three months of 2024, supported by a year-end surge in consumer spending, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its previous estimate of fourth-quarter growth.

But it’s unclear whether the U.S. can sustain solid growth as President Donald Trump wages trade wars, purges the federal workforce and promises mass deportations of immigrants working in the country illegally.

The Commerce Department says that growth in gross domestic product—the nation’s output of goods and services—decelerated from a 3.1% pace in July-September 2024.

For all of 2024, the economy—the world’s biggest—grew 2.8%, down a tick from 2.9% in 2023.

Consumer spending rose at a 4% pace, up from 3.7% in third-quarter 2023. But business investment fell, led by an 8.7% drop in investment in equipment.

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