Fourth-quarter GDP revised down to just 0.7% growth; January core inflation

Economic growth was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025 while core inflation rose to start 2026, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced across the sprawling U.S. economy, rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annual rate of just 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The first revision of the GDP reading was a sharp step down from the previous estimate of 1.4% and well below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 1.5%. It also marked a considerable slowdown from the 4.4% gain in the prior period, hampered by a record-long government shutdown that saw government spending tumble 16.7%.

For the full year, GDP posted a 2.1% increase, or one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the previous reading. In 2024, the economy rose at a 2.8% pace.

According to the BEA, the downward revision came due to adjustments in consumer and government spending and exports. A decline in imports, which technically subtract from GDP, also was less than the previous estimate.

Consumer spending rose 2% for the quarter, following a 0.4 percentage point downward revision that represented a decline from the 3.5% increase in the third quarter. The largest contribution for the downward revision from services, specifically health care spending, according to the release.

On the inflation side, readings for January were mostly in line with estimates, though they showed price increases running well ahead of where the Federal Reserve would like.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s primary forecasting tool for inflation, posted a seasonally adjusted gain of 0.3% for the month, putting the annual rate at 2.8%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective readings of 0.3% and 2.9%.

Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the core PCE inflation rose 0.4% in January and 3.1% on a 12-month basis. Fed officials focus more closely on the core reading as a better indication of longer-run trends. The core reading was 0.1 percentage point higher than December.

A separate Commerce Department report showed that orders for long-lasting goods such as transportation equipment, appliances and computers were flat in January, well below the estimate for a 1.3% gain though an improvement on the 0.9% decline in December. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.4%.

“The big downward revision in GDP is a gut check going into this energy crunch, increasing the risk of stagflation,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “The soft January durable goods data also suggests the economy entered this crisis weaker than hoped. This creates challenges for investors with PCE inflation still running well above the Fed’s target.”

Though the numbers are dated, they nonetheless provide a snapshot of…