US economic growth ends 2023 with surprising strength

Growth slowed far less than expected in last three months of 2023 and gross domestic product grew at annualized rate of 3.3%

The pace of US economic growth slowed in the last three months of 2023, but far less than had been expected, underlining the continued resilience of the economy.

The commerce department reported on Thursday that US gross domestic product (GDP) - a broad measure of economic health - grew at an annualized rate of 3.3% in the final quarter of the year, down from 4.9% in the previous quarter but in line with pre-pandemic growth, and well ahead of the 2% economists had expected.