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Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in February. There is a concern that Americans squeezed by years of elevated inflation will cut spending further.

The Republican-led Senate will be next to consider the nominees who, if confirmed, would join Secretary Sean Duffy’s leadership team at the Department of Transportation.

GDP rose at a 4.4% annual pace in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Jan. 22, up from 3.8% in the April-June quarter and from the 4.3% growth the department initially estimated.

U.S. GDP from July through September — the economy’s total output of goods and services — rose from its 3.8% growth rate in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said Dec. 23.

Motor vehicles fell 1.6%, held down in part by the expiration of federal tax incentives on electric vehicles. Cheaper gasoline prices held down the value of gas station receipts.

The value of retail purchases, not adjusted for inflation, increased 0.2% after a 0.6% gain in August, Commerce Department data showed, after being delayed due to the government shutdown.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Raimondo argued that the political cost of unwinding tariffs is too high for any future administration, regardless of party. 

The Commerce Department is slated to announce a five-year extension for an arrangement that allows automakers to reduce what they pay in tariffs on imported car parts.

The Commerce Department reported Sept. 26 that its personal consumption expenditures price index was up 2.7% in August from a year earlier.

The Commerce Department had previously estimated second-quarter growth at 3.3%.