Dive Brief:

• U.S. gross domestic product increased 2.4% from October through December, a downward revision from the 3.4% increase measured last month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday. That was closer to the 2.5% increase forecasted by many economists.

• Consumer spending on household purchases rose more slowly than the 3.3% originally reported, increasing by a 2.6% pace, even less than the 2.9% forecast by a Bloomberg survey of 85 economists.

• Still, the increase was the biggest since the first quarter of 2012, and some economists say they expect warmer weather to unleash pent-up consumer spending.

Dive Insight:

If you listen to the Congressional Budget Office, this downward revision by the U.S. Commerce Department is a sign of things to come — lower incomes, lower consumer spending, fewer jobs, and slower business growth. But many experts take issue with that, and believe that warmer weather will bring the economy back to its admittedly less-than-stellar, but slow and steady, growth performance. Warmer weather — the scapegoat of poor financial results in retail, government, and other sectors — is just around the corner. We’ll soon see if we can breathe easier once the snow melts. Meanwhile, if the economy stays cool, that could impact the global economy and with that, many retailers’ current plans to expand into foreign markets in efforts to spur growth.