Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 1, 2019 by James Hamilton here.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced yesterday that U.S. real GDP grew at a 2.6% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2018. That's below the 3.1% average for the U.S. economy over the last 70 years, but better than the 2.2% average rate since the recovery from the Great Recession began in 2009:Q3.
Real GDP growth at an annual rate, 1947:Q2-2018:Q4, with the 1947-2018 historical average (3.1%) in blue and post-Great-Recession average (2.2%) in red.
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