U.S. GDP unrevised at 2.2 percent in fourth quarter; corporate profits fall

U.S. economic growth cooled in the fourth quarter as previously estimated, with businesses throttling back on inventory and equipment investment but robust consumer spending limiting the slowdown in the pace of activity. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate, unrevised from last month's forecast, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its third GDP estimate. The government also reported that after-tax corporate profits fell at a 1.6 percent rate in the fourth quarter, as a strong dollar dented the earnings of multinational corporations. Slower economic growth together with benign inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates until later this year.

via Business News http://ift.tt/1bBbJiD