US economy expands 1.2% in March quarter; orders for US-manufactured durable goods fall in March

Source: Dukascopy Bank SA
"Economic indicators so far aren't entirely convincing on a second-quarter bounce in activity and show a U.S. economy struggling to surprise on the upside." 
— Scott Anderson, Bank of the West  

The US economy expanded at a stronger-than-initially-expected pace in the March quarter; however, an economic slowdown remained on the table in the second quarter. The Commerce Department reported on Friday that Q1 GDP growth came in at a seasonally adjusted annualised pace of 1.2%, compared to an originally reported pace of 0.7%. Meanwhile, analysts expected the economy to expand 0.9% in the reported quarter. However, that was the worst performance over the past 12 months. Back in the Q4 of 2016, the economy grew 2.1%. Analysts suggested that the Q1 slowdown was mainly driven by the US President Donald Trump's inability to boost economic growth as promised. Even though the Q1 figure was revised up sharply, weak retail sales, business investment, falls in investment inventories and an increase of the goods trade deficit destroyed hopes for a rebound in the Q2. A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed that new orders for US-manufactured durable goods dropped 0.7% last month, whereas orders for core durable goods fell 0.4%.
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