The U.S. economy grew 2.9% in 2018

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."