Feb 28, 2019

The U.S. economy grew 2.9% in 2018

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Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios

U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.6% annual rate in the final quarter of last year, bringing 2018’s annual growth to 2.9%, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

Why it matters: That's just shy of the 3% growth the Trump administration has touted. The shutdown-delayed GDP report marks a deceleration from the 3.4% growth rate seen in the third quarter. The BEA estimates that the shutdown — which was mostly in January, rather than in the fourth quarter — "subtracted about 0.1 percentage point from real GDP growth in the fourth quarter."

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Axios
Updated 46 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Fauci: Trump hasn't been to a COVID task force meeting in months — Trump claims COVID "will go away" during debate.
  2. Sports: The youth sports exodus continues — Big Ten football is back.
  3. Health: How to help save 130,000 lives — FDA approves Gilead's remdesivir as treatment — How the pandemic might end — Many U.S. deaths were avoidable.
  4. Retail: Santa won't greet kids at Macy's this year.
  5. World: Spain and France exceed 1 million cases.
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Shawna Chen
1 hour ago - Health

Fauci: Trump hasn't been to a COVID task force meeting in months

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump has not attended a White House coronavirus task force meeting in “several months,” NIAID director Anthony Fauci told MSNBC on Friday.

Why it matters: At the beginning of the pandemic, the task force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, met every day, but in the "last several weeks," members have held virtual meetings once a week, Fauci said, even as the number of new cases continues to surge in the country.

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Axios
2 hours ago - Health

How to help save 130,000 lives

People wear face masks outside Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images

Nearly 130,000 fewer people will die of COVID-19 this winter if 95% of Americans wear face masks in public, according to research published Friday.

Why it matters: “Increasing mask use is one of the best strategies that we have right now to delay the imposition of social distancing mandates," Dr. Christopher Murray of the University of Washington told the N.Y. Times.

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