(TNND) — The American economy grew at nearly a 3% clip last year, though slightly down from the year before.

What the economy has in store for us this year is “really uncertain,” said Colorado State University economist Stephan Weiler.

“I mean, exceptionally uncertain given the political situation,” he said.

The Commerce Department on Thursday reported both fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 gross domestic product figures.

The GDP is generally cited as the measure of the U.S. economy.

Last year, it grew 2.8%.

The GDP grew 2.9% the year before.

The GDP grew last quarter by 2.3%.

Scott Hoyt, Moody’s Analytics senior director, said via email that the “economy’s performance is about as good as it gets.”

Signs of strength include low unemployment at a shade over 4% and job growth that, despite moderating, remains strong enough to absorb at least most of the new entrants to the rapidly growing labor force, he said.

Weiler gave a less bullish assessment.

“Steady and solid, not great,” he said.

Most economists like to see 3% economic growth, Weiler said.

But we're not that far off that mark, he said.

GDP is the sum of consumption, investment, government spending and exports, minus imports.

Consumption is consumer spending, which typically accounts for about 70% of the GDP.

Weiler said consumers are currently playing an outsized role in keeping the economy afloat.

Consumer spending was the only significant growth area of the GDP last quarter.

Business investment was a negative contributor to GDP last quarter.

Government spending was basically flat.

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Hoyt said on the plus side, inflation is close to the Federal Reserve’s target after being so high the last few years, even if cooling has stagnated.

Stock and house prices are at record highs.

Household debt loads are light, he said.

There are areas of weakness, too.

Hoyt said lower-income households struggle financially, evidenced by high credit card and subprime auto loan delinquency rates.

Home sales and mortgage origination volumes remain depressed.

And prices for mostly lower-quality office properties and high-end multifamily buildings have fallen sharply over the past two-plus years.

Manufacturing has also been declining, dragged down by the lackluster vehicle and aircraft industries and stiff overseas competition due in part to the high value of the U.S. dollar, he said.

“To be sure, the economy has its blemishes, and many Americans have a jaundiced view of the economy, but growth is undeniably strong,” Hoyt said.

Risks, however, are numerous, he said.

Among the more obvious are a large increase in energy prices, an unexpected increase in long-term interest rates, a sharp drop in house or stock prices undermining consumer spending, and more bank failures or other financial system problems, Hoyt said.

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Immigration and tariffs are two hot topics in Washington right now, and both men said those issues could impact the American economy this year.

President Donald Trump campaigned on mass deportations and stricter border controls. His administration has stepped up enforcement on illegal immigration in his first week.

Trump has also talked about raising tariffs on other countries, both friends and foes.

“Restrictions on immigration and tariffs would be drags on economic growth in the coming year,” Hoyt said. “Fewer people coming into the country means both fewer consumers buying things and fewer workers available to produce goods and services. Tariffs are passed through to buyers at least in part, raising prices and decreasing demand for the impacted goods.”

Weiler said there’s clearly a labor demand in the U.S. that American citizens aren’t meeting, and immigrants are filling that need. Those are often jobs Americans don’t want, on farms or in factories.

And even the threat of tariffs creates uncertainty in the economy.

“That uncertainty is part of what the Fed and the public are dealing with, basically because the Fed doesn't know what inflation might be if tariffs went up 10% on Mexico or Canada or a bunch more on Columbia,” Weiler said. “And that uncertainty, I think, is part of what drove the Fed to keep rates where they were.”