The U.S. economy slowed to a moderate 2.3% annual growth rate in the first quarter as consumer spending turned in the weakest performance in nearly five years.
Still, the Commerce Department said the January-March increase was better than expected and was enough to propel growth over the past year to come close to the 3 percent goal set by the Trump administration.
The department says the gain in the gross domestic product, the economy's total output of goods and services, followed a 2.9% rise in the fourth quarter and gains above 3% in the previous two quarters. It was the strongest nine-month stretch in a decade.
Economists had been forecasting a first-quarter slowdown. They expect growth to surpass 3%in the current quarter.
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