US economic growth slowed to an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of this year, as businesses rebalanced their inventories and pulled back on spending amid punishing rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The increase in the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — was far below economists’ expectations of 2% and represents a more moderate pace compared to the previous two quarters, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Commerce.
The January-to-March period was also marked in its later weeks by mounting fears that a meltdown in the banking sector and a pending debt ceiling crisis could trigger a recession.
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