US fourth-quarter GDP growth came in at 3.3% quarter-on-quarter annualised, well above the 2% consensus and above every forecast in the Bloomberg survey. The personal consolation is that at least we were closest (ING predicted 2.5%). The details show consumer spending was very strong, rising 2.8% while government spending increased 3.3% and non-residential fixed investment increased 1.9% with residential investment up 1.1%. Inventories added 0.07 percentage points to growth while net exports added 0.43pp. This means the economy grew 2.5% for the full year of 2023, confounding expectations at the beginning of last ... (full story)