U.S. economic growht this quarter is likely to be less robust than forecasted last
month given the erosion of confidence in the wake of the nasty fight over fiscal
policy.
The fourth quarter had been expected to mark the transition to a stronger pace of
expansion. But economists have grown less optimistic after the budget tussle that
shut down parts of the government and left the nation flirting with a historic debt
default.
While that was only marginally lower than the 2.5% economists had estimated in
September, the risk is high that growth could come in even lower since the shutdown
of the federal government last longer than the one week that many economists had
expected.
Sheila McKinney
