Forecasters who follow the US economy found themselves in a familiar place after a recent retail sales report: revising up their estimates for GDP. Quarterly data on gross domestic product due Thursday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis is expected to show the economy expanded at a 2% annual rate in the final three months of 2023, fueled by 2.5% growth in household spending. That’s stronger growth and spending than most economists anticipated when the quarter began, and would follow a string of upside surprises throughout the past year that spoiled widespread predictions for a recession. Now, with inflation ... (full story)