By Lindsay Dunsmuir
(Reuters) -The U.S. economy grew more slowly in the first quarter than previously estimated after downward revisions to consumer and equipment spending and a key measure of inflation ticked down, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to possibly begin cutting interest rates before the end of the year.
Gross domestic product – the broadest measure of economic activity – grew at an 1.3% annualized rate from January through March, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday, down from the advance estimate of 1.6% and notably slower than the 3.4% pace in the final three months of 2023.
The downgrade of first-quarter growth followed recent softness in other readings of retail sales and equipment spending.
Details of the report showed that consumer spending growth, revised down by 0.5 percentage point to a 2.0% annualized rate, mostly reflected a…