WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3 percent annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade from its initial estimate.
The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 1.1 percent annual rate last quarter.
The Commerce Department’s revised measure of growth in the nation’s gross domestic product—the economy’s total output of goods and services—marked a deceleration from 3.2 percent annual growth from July through September and 2.6 percent from October through December.
Despite the first-quarter slowdown, consumer spending, which accounts for around 70 percent of America’s economic output, rose at a 3.8 percent annual pace, the most in nearly two years and an encouraging sign of household confidence. Specifically, spending on physical goods, like appliances and cars, rose 6.3 percent, also the fastest growth rate since April-June of last year….