Q4 GDP Forecasts: High-1s, Low-2s, 2018 Annual GDP around 2.8%

The BEA has announced that the Q4 advanced GDP report will be combined with the 2nd estimate of GDP, and will be released on Feb 28th.

From Merrill Lynch:

Weak retail sales data and inventory build caused a 0.8pp decline in our 4Q GDP tracking estimate to 1.5% from 2.3% [Feb 14 estimate]
emphasis added

From the NY Fed Nowcasting Report

The New York Fed Staff Nowcast stands at 2.3% for 2018:Q4 and 1.2% for 2019:Q1. [Feb 22 estimate]

And from the Altanta Fed: GDPNow

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2018 is 1.4 percent on February 21, down from 1.5 percent on February 14. [Feb 21 estimate]

CR Note: These estimates suggest GDP in the high 1s for Q4.

Using the middle of these three forecasts (about 1.8% real GDP growth in Q4), that would put 2018 annual GDP growth at around 2.8%.  This would be the best year since 2015, but lower than many forecasts.