Economy in U.S. Grew at 2.4% Rate, Less Than First Estimated
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The U.S. economy expanded less than previously estimated in the first quarter as slower inventory building and cutbacks in government spending overshadowed the biggest gain in consumer purchases since the end of 2010.
Gross domestic product rose at a 2.4 percent annualized rate, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for no revision from the 2.5 percent pace initially reported.
The boost to household wealth from rising home values and stock prices is allowing Americans to weather higher payroll taxes and sustain purchases, the biggest part of the economy. Resilient consumer spending, further housing market progress and job gains will help the expansion strengthen in the second half of the year as the fallout from federal budget cuts dissipates.
“The economy is still okay,” Yelena Shulyatyeva, a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas SA in New York, said before the report. “Growth was decent at the beginning of the year. The economy will pick up in the second half as the sequestration effect fades.”
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