US economy stalls on inventories, trade

The US economy barely grew in the first quarter as the severe winter hampered exports and led businesses to curtail investment spending, but activity already appears to be bouncing back. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a 0.1-per cent annual rate, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. "This quarter was impacted heavily by the weather. Growth is down, but not out, not by a long shot, and we look for it to quicken later on in the spring," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. The slowdown, which also reflected the slowest inventory accumulation in nearly a year, was much sharper than Wall Street had braced for. Economists expected a 1.2-per cent gain. It suggested the economy could struggle to achieve the 3 per cent break-out growth that had been widely anticipated this year, but did little to alter forecasts for coming quarters, according to a news agency.