Despite weaker growth in the first quarter, economy is expected to keep expanding
WASHINGTON - Don't panic yet. The government reported Friday that the economy got off to a tepid start this year, but that doesn't foreshadow a repeat of the near-standstill that happened in 2011.
"The economy is firmly on a growth trajectory," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Smith School of Business. "The first-quarter slowdown will be temporary."
Still, the January-March report was discouraging.
Economists had expected gross domestic product ` the broadest gauge of economic output ` to expand at a 2.5 per cent annual rate for the first three months of the year. Instead, the Commerce Department said it was 2.2 per cent, mainly because of government budget-cutting and a slowdown in business investment.
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