Trump’s economy decelerated as shutdown, consumer spending drag on growth

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The president blamed the soft GDP report on Democrats and Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

“The Democrat Shutdown cost the U.S.A. at least two points in GDP,” President Donald Trump posted. | Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump was having a hard time selling Americans on his vision for the economy when it was expanding at a rapid clip. Now, growth is starting to decelerate.

The Commerce Department on Friday estimated that the economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.4 percent during the fourth quarter as spending cooled amid a record-breaking government shutdown. The 43-day shutdown erased a full percentage point from gross domestic product — much of which is likely to be recouped over time — but Commerce’s preliminary estimate also found that American households pulled back spending on consumer goods in the final months of the year.