US economy grew at 0.5% in fourth quarter

This story about the fourth-quarter GDP report is developing and will be updated with more details.

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower pace than expected in the fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department’s estimate.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday released its final reading of fourth-quarter GDP, which showed the economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.5% in the three-month period including October, November and December. 

That figure was lower than the expectations of economists polled by LSEG, who had estimated 0.7% GDP growth in the fourth quarter.