- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
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- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
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- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
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'Resilient' US economy defies recession fears to cap solid 2023
US economic growth was stronger than expected in the final months of 2023, government data showed Thursday, offering a boost to President Joe Biden as he heads into reelection campaigning.
The world's biggest economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, fueled by a resilient jobs market and consumer spending, the Commerce Department said.
Compared to the same period a year prior, fourth quarter growth was 3.1 percent.
Meanwhile, full-year growth accelerated to 2.5 percent, from 1.9 percent in 2022.
Biden, who is aiming to convince voters that he has done a good job reining in costs while spurring investments to support the economy, welcomed the news.
"Wages, wealth, and employment are higher now than they were before the pandemic," he said in a statement.
"That is three years in a row of growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up on my watch," he added, conceding his work is not done in battling to lower prices.
The latest data strengthens optimism that the United States is achieving a "soft landing," where inflation comes down on the back of higher interest rates, without triggering a damaging recession.
The fourth quarter GDP jump "reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, state and local government spending" and other areas, said the Commerce Department.
In early 2023, analysts expected consumer spending to lose steam as households drew down on accumulated savings during the Covid-19 pandemic and as borrowing costs stayed high.
Some warned that the country could enter a recession, but growth has been supported by surprising labor market strength, with low unemployment even as hiring starts to cool.
- Slower growth -
"Economic growth has been more resilient than we anticipated going into 2023," Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic told AFP.
"The largest surprise was the ongoing strength in the labor market, which fueled robust job and wage gains," she added.
Bolstered personal incomes in turn helped to support consumption.
But the economy is not out of the woods yet, given that employment growth in some sectors has weakened and interest rates remain at a 22-year high.
"We still expect the economy to grow in 2024, but at a slower pace," Bernard Yaros of Oxford Economics told AFP.
"As long as the labor market holds it together and unemployment drifts only gradually higher, the consumer will continue to power this expansion," he added.
- 'Clears the way' -
Residential investment is also likely to be a bigger factor behind growth, with the Federal Reserve expected to lower interest rates and homebuilders set to capitalize on lower mortgage rates and a frozen existing-home market, Yaros said.
The outlook for first quarter GDP now is "for a moderate slowing" from the fourth quarter, said Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson in a note.
"But we see few signs that the economy is about to roll over, and housing investment -- the most interest-rate sensitive sector -- is starting to recover," he added.
Although the Fed's longer-run GDP growth projection is 1.8 percent, the latest data may not stop policymakers from cutting rates as soon as in May or June.
"Inflation will be the key determinant of the timing and degree of Fed easing this year," Bostjancic said.
For now, data points to "good growth with low inflation," said Navy Federal Credit Union corporate economist Robert Frick.
"This clears the way for the Fed to deliver the three rate cuts projected for this year, at least," he added.
O.Johnson--AMWN