In the period from January to March, US gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5 percent compared to the previous quarter, when it increased by only 0.1 percent, according to revised data, Hrportfolio reports.
However, the annual comparison shows that the economy grew by 2.1 percent in the period from January to March. In the previous quarter, annual growth was 2 percent.
The annualized growth rate, which shows how much GDP would have grown over the past year if it had grown at the same pace in each quarter as in the past three months, was 2 percent in the first quarter of this year. In the fourth quarter of last year, it was only 0.5 percent.
Personal consumption, the mainstay of the world's largest economy, rose 2.4 percent in the January-March period compared to the same period last year. It rose 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, according to the ministry.
Gross fixed asset investment by companies slowed slightly, from 3.6 to 3.3 percent.
Exports, however, accelerated strongly, growing by 3.9 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. In the last quarter of last year, they grew by 1.2 percent.
Imports fell by 5.6 percent, almost six times more than at the end of last year.
Federal government spending fell 3.1 percent, half as much as in the previous quarter. Defense spending also fell significantly more modestly, by one percent, after falling 2.7 percent in the October-December period.
Local government spending rose 0.4 percent, indicating a noticeable slowdown compared to the previous three months, when it increased 1.7 percent, according to ministry data.
