Washington, May 31 (IANS) US economic growth slowed to an annualised rate of 1.9 percent in the first quarter of the year, down from an initial estimate of 2.2 percent.
The level was in line with economists’ expectations, but lower than 3-percent growth in the fourth quarter last year, the revised commerce department figures showed Thursday.
The deceleration reflected a slowdown in private inventory investment, an increase in imports, and a drop in non-residential fixed investment that were partly offset by accelerations in exports and in personal consumption expenditures, the department said.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the US economy, grew by a 2.7 percent annual rate, compared with an increase of 2.1 percent in the previous quarter.
