The numbers: The economy grew somewhat slower in the final three months of 2018 than it originally appeared, largely because of softer consumer spending and a weaker climate for business investment that’s likely to depress growth in the first quarter as well.

Gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the economy, expanded at a 2.2% annual pace in the fourth quarter, the government said Thursday. GDP was marked down from an initial 2.6% estimate.

What’s more, adjusted pretax corporate profits fell slightly in the fourth quarter, marking the first decline in almost two years.

Even after the downward revision, however, GDP for all of 2018 was left at 2.9%. That matched 2015 for the best performance since the Great Recession a decade ago.

What happened: Consumer spending was lowered to 2.5% from 2.8%, mainly because purchases of recreational vehicles were not as strong as initially reported.

The increase in business fixed investment, meanwhile, was trimmed to 3.1% from 3.9%. The government lowered its estimate of spending on software and other forms of intellectual property.

The increase in the value of inventories was little changed at $96.8 billion.

Slower growth weighed on business profits in the fourth quarter. They fell an adjusted 0.4%, the first decline since the first quarter of 2017. Still, earnings climbed a healthy 7.7% in the past year.

State and local spending was another drag. Outlays fell a sharper 1.3% instead of 0.3%.

Exports rose a revised 2.8% in the fourth quarter, up from an original 2.6% estimate. The increase in imports was slashed to 2% from 2.7%.

The rate of inflation, measured by the PCE index, was unaltered at 1.5%. Most other figures in the revised GDP were little changed.

Owing to delays caused by the partial government shutdown early this year, the latest report combines what normally would have been the first and second revisions to GDP.

Read:Why the markets aren’t buying Fed’s claims about the strength of the economy

Big picture: Like a rocket shedding its boosters, the U.S. lost speed in the fourth quarter as key segments of the economy faltered.

The biggest dropoff came in business investment, the result of a festering trade dispute with China, a stronger dollar DXY, -0.03% that crimped exports and a weaker global economy.

The boost from the Trump tax cuts and a burst of higher government spending last spring and summer also appeared to fade toward the end of the year.

The economy has gotten off to a sluggish start in 2019 and that means growth in the first quarter could be even worse. Although many economists think growth will strengthen in the spring, no one is forecasting the sort of huge bounceback that occurred last year when second-quarter GDP hit 4.2%.

Read:The Fed is gun-shy because of a quarter-century of low inflation

Market reaction: “The U.S. economy slowed more in the fourth quarter than previously thought, though partly because of the government shutdown,” said senior economist Sal Guatieri of BMO Capital Markets. “The impact of tax cuts is fading, but the underlying trend in activity still points more to a moderation in growth rather than a recession.”

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.92% and S&P 500 SPX, -2.37% rose modestly in Thursday trades.

The 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.674% stood at 2.39%. Mortgages, auto loans and other common forms of borrowing are tied to changes in the 10-year note.

The yield has fallen steadily from a seven-year high of 3.23% in October, reflecting greater worries about the U.S. economy.