US economic growth last quarter is revised down from 1.6% rate to 1.3%, but consumers kept spending

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3% annual pace from January through March, the government said in a downgrade from its previous estimate. Consumer spending rose but at a slower pace than previously thought. The Commerce Department had previously estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — expanded at a 1.6% rate last quarter. The first quarter’s GDP growth marked a sharp slowdown from the vigorous 3.4% rate in the final three months of 2023. But last quarter’s pullback was due mainly to two factors — a surge in imports and a reduction in business inventories — that tend to fluctuate from quarter to quarter.