The US economy grew at just over a 2% pace in real GDP in the last quarter of 2019, according to the first reading of the official data. Real GDP rose at annual rate of 2.1% in Q4, and was up 2.3% from Q4 2018. For the whole year of 2019, the advance estimate of real GDP growth was 2.3%. That's slower than in 2018 (2.5%) and which was slower than in 2017 (2.8%). So much for President Trump's boast that his tax cuts and other measures to boost big business would lead to 3-4-5% annual growth. The best that can be said is that the US economy has been stuck in a below average growth rate of 2.0-2.5% since the end of the Great Recession. It's longest period of expansion after a slump in the post-1945 period, but also the weakest. Most concerning is the contraction in business investment, the key to long-term growth of incomes and employment. In Q4 2019, business investment fell -1.5% from the previous quarter, which was the third consecutive quarterly fall. For the whole of 2019, business investment was flat, and within that, investment in buildings fell 7% and equipment 1.5%. There was a rise only the dubious category of "intellectual property products" ie software - and that was slowing fast. The US figures came out at the same time that Mexico reported -0.3% contraction in national output and remains in recession, while the coronavirus epidemic is likely to slow China's growth rate to well below 6%. India's is already dropping below that.
