A general view shows the Manhattan skyline from the One Vanderbilt viewing deck in New York City on January 16, 2023. (Photo: AFP)

US economic growth slowed to 2.1 percent in 2022, the Commerce Department said Thursday, as activity eased in the final months of the year while recession fears loom.

The full-year figure "primarily reflected increases in consumer spending" and other areas like exports, the department said, and the world's biggest economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the October to December period.