The US economy grew more slowly in the first quarter than previously estimated after a revised decline in consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.
Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 1.3% from January to March, down from an earlier estimate of 1.6% and slower than the 3.4% rate in the last three months of 2023.
The decline in first-quarter growth follows recent developments in retail sales and appliance spending readings.
A measure of inflation in the first quarter was revised down to 3.3% from 3.4%, the highest quarterly price pressure growth in a year. After easing for most of the last year, inflation measures emerged higher than expected in early 2024, prompting Federal Reserve policymakers to delay expectations for them to move to interest rate cuts.
The downward revision to GDP brought the first-quarter growth rate to the lowest since the second quarter of 2022, when the economy contracted, and left output below the 1.8% rate that officials at the Federal Reserve see as long-term non-inflationary potential.
This slow start to the year is not expected to continue into the second quarter, however, in large part due to continued strengthening in the job market.
