The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

US growth in January-March upgraded to still-slow 1.2%

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The U.S. economy began 2017 with a whimper — though not quite as weak a whimper as the government had first estimated.

The gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — expanded in the January-March quarter at a 1.2 percent annual rate, the government said Friday. That was better than its initial estimate of a 0.7 percent rate but far below President Donald Trump’s growth targets, which most economists consider unrealisti­c.

The government’s upgraded estimate of first-quarter growth reflected new-found strength in consumer spending, business investment and state and local government spending.

Many analysts have estimated that growth in the current AprilJune quarter is rebounding to an annual rate above 3 percent. They envision stronger consumer spending fueled by solid hiring, with unemployme­nt at a decade low.

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