U.S. economy grows slightly slower than initially thought in Q1

A report from the Commerce Department showed on Thursday that the U.S. economy grew slightly slower than initially thought in the first quarter of 2019, due to downward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment and private inventory investment and upward revisions to exports and personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Meanwhile, imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised up. Nonetheless, the general picture of economic growth remains the same. 

According to the second estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the first quarter, slightly lower than a gain of 3.2 percent reported in the advance estimate. 

Economists had expected the growth rate to come in at 3.1 percent, following the fourth quarter's increase of 2.2 percent. 

The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from PCE, private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, fell.

At the same time, the acceleration in real GDP in the first quarter reflected an upturn in state and local government spending, accelerations in private inventory investment and in exports, and a smaller decrease in residential investment. These movements were partly offset by decelerations in PCE and nonresidential fixed investment, and a downturn in federal government spending. Imports turned down.