The U.S. GDP up in Q4 as economy grew at a 3.3%

U.S. GDP

The U.S. economy grew at a much faster pace than expected in the final three months of 2023.

The U.S. easily avoided a recession that many had forecast as inevitable, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday 25th January 2024.

Gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of all the goods and services produced, increased at a 3.3% annualised rate in the final quarter of 2023, according to data from the Commerce Department.

Wall Street consensus was for a figure of 2%.

U.S. BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis

Bureau of Economic Analysis

U.S. inflation pullback

U.S. Inflation down

Progress on U.S. inflation

Core prices for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), a preferred measure by the Federal Reserve as a longer-term inflation calculation, rose 2% for the period, while the rate was 1.7%.

On an annual basis, the PCE price index rose 2.7%, down from 5.9% a year ago, while the core figure excluding food and energy posted a 3.2% increase annually, compared with 5.1%.

Good news

Inflation falling, GDP rising, stabilizing interest rates and no recession thus far the U.S. economy is looking rock-solid despite all the negativity.

Turkey hikes interest rate to 45% after inflation touches 65%

Turkey inflation high

Turkey’s central bank on Thursday 25th January 2024 hiked its key interest rate to 45%.

It comes amid an ongoing struggle against double-digit inflation for Turkey’s policymakers, with the rate hike the latest step in that ongoing fight.

30 Turkish Lira to 1 U.S. dollar

Inflation in Turkey increased nearly 65% year-on-year in December 2023, up from 62% in November, and the country’s currency, the lira, hit a new record low against the U.S. dollar earlier in January 2024 at 30 Lira to $1.

Analysts predict this will be the last hike for some time, especially with local elections approaching in March 2024