U.S. GDP growth slowed significantly in the first quarter, falling short of market expectations

The US economy slowed markedly in Quarter 1 as inflation picked up and consumer and government spending cooled. Gross domestic product grew at an annualised rate of 1.6 per cent, according to preliminary government estimates. The economy's main growth engine, real personal consumption expenditures, grew by 2.5 per cent in the first quarter. In addition, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the closely watched measure of underlying inflation, the core PCE price index for Quarter 1, rose by 3.7 per cent, a faster-than-expected increase and the first quarterly increase in a year.