US economic growth revised up to a still-tepid 1.3% annual rate

The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March. Businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories, although the latest figure is a slight upgrade from the government’s initial estimate of an 1.1-percent annual rate last quarter. The revised measure of growth in the nation’s gross domestic product marked a deceleration from the second half of 2022. Despite the first-quarter slowdown, consumer spending, which accounts for around 70% of America’s economic output, rose at a healthy pace.