US economic growth for last quarter is revised up to a still-tepid 1.3% annual rate

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories, the government said in a slight upgrade from its initial estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 1.1% annual rate last quarter. The revised measure of growth in the nation’s gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — marked a deceleration from 3.2% annual growth from July through September and 2.6% from October through December. Despite the first-quarter slowdown, consumer spending, which accounts for around 70% of America’s economic output, rose at a 3.8% annual pace, the most in nearly two years.