US First Quarter Growth Slowest in 2 yrs

The US economy grew at its softest pace in two years during the first quarter this year, slowing to a 3.1 per cent annual rate of expansion as consumers and businesses curbed spending in the face of rising prices, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

The expansion in gross domestic product, which measures total output within US borders, was the weakest since a 1.9 per cent pace during the first quarter of 2003 and was a surprisingly sharp deceleration from the 3.8 per cent rate registered in the fourth quarter of 2004.
(Stuff-New Zealand)