Washington. The United States economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6 percent annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace.
Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated in the January-March quarter from its brisk 3.4 percent growth rate in the final three months of 2023.
A surge in imports, which are subtracted from GDP, reduced first-quarter growth by nearly 1 percentage point. Growth was also held back by businesses reducing their inventories. Both those categories tend to fluctuate sharply from quarter to quarter.
By contrast, the core components of the economy still appear sturdy. Along with households, businesses helped drive the economy last quarter…
