US economic growth likely slowed in January-March quarter: FactSet report

Despite surging interest rates, punishing inflation and global turbulence, the US economy stood firm last year. From employers to consumers, the picture was one of surprising resilience.

This year may be shaping up as a more downbeat story. The economy is widely expected to decelerate steadily and to slip into a recession sometime this year.

Some early such signs could begin to emerge Thursday, when the Commerce Department will issue its first estimate of the economy's performance in the first three months of 2023.

Forecasters have predicted that the gross domestic product the broadest measure of economic output grew at a 1.9 per cent annual rate from January through March, according to a survey by the data firm FactSet.

That would mark a significant slowdown from the 3.2 per cent growth rate from July through September and the 2.6 per cent rate from October through December.

The obstacles the economy faces are growing more troublesome. The biggest among them is the dramatically