The US economy grew at a slower pace than expected at 2.2% in the first three months of 2012 mainly due to fall in business spending. The world's largest economy, witnessing relatively slower recovery, had expanded 3% in 2011 December quarter.
"Real gross domestic product - the output of goods and services produced by labour and property located in the United States - increased at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012," the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in a statement today.
The advanced growth estimate is lower than the widely expected expansion rate of about 2.5% and above for the 2012 March quarter. "The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a deceleration in private inventory investment and a downturn in non-residential fixed investment," it noted.
As per official data, real non-residential fixed investment dropped 2.1% in the quarter under review whereas the same had increased 5.2% in the 2011 December quarter. However, real personal consumption expenditures rose 2.9% in the 2012 March quarter compared to 2.1% increase in the previous three months.
In terms of current-dollar GDP, the American economy was worth USD 15.46 trillion at the end of March quarter. Recently, the US Federal Reserve had said the national economy would see moderate growth before picking up.
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