The retail sales data is to blame

Citing the US retail sales report from earlier today, the Atlanta Fed has lowered it's estimate for 4Q growth to 1.8% from 2.3%. In their own words:

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2019 is 1.8 percent on January 16, down from 2.3 percent on January 10. After this morning's retail sales release from the U.S. Census Bureau, the nowcast of fourth-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth declined from 2.3 percent to 1.6 percent.

The next estimate will be on Friday.

The retail sales data is to blame