A worker talks on a mobile phone from a downtown construction site in Los Angeles, California on Friday. The U.S. economy’s growth slowed sharply in the final three months of 2015 to a 0.7 percent annual rate. Consumers slowed spending, businesses cut back on investment and global problems trimmed exports. The government’s estimate Friday of the economy’s expansion in the October-December period was less than half the modest 2 percent annual growth rate in gross domestic product in the previous quarter. It was the weakest showing since a severe winter slowed growth to a 0.6 percent annual rate in last year’s first quarter.

    SD-Agencies