The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, March 29, edition that the U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.4-per-cent annual pace from October through December, the government said Thursday in an upgrade from its previous estimate. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 3.2-per-cent rate last quarter. The Commerce Department's revised measure of the country's gross domestic product -- the total output of goods and services -- confirmed that the economy decelerated from its sizzling 4.9-per-cent rate of expansion in the July-September quarter. However, last quarter's growth was still a solid performance, coming in the face of higher interest rates and powered by growing consumer spending, exports and business investment in buildings and software. It marked the sixth straight quarter in which the economy has grown at an annual rate above 2 per cent. For all of 2023, the U.S. economy grew 2.5 per cent, up from 1.9 per cent in 2022. In the current January-March quarter, the economy is believed to be growing at a slower but still decent 2.1-per-cent annual rate, according to a forecasting model issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.