US economic recovery slows
US economy grew by an annualized 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Figures indicate the recovery is slowing down. US Department of Commerce released preliminary GDP figures for the January to March period. The annualized growth rate stood at 2.2 percent, against 3 percent during the last quarter of 2011.Consumer spending, which accounts for some 70 percent of GDP in the United States, grew by 2.9 percent while capital investments decreased by 2.1 percent. The difficult fiscal situation pushed state and local government expenditures down by 1.2 percent.
The recent improvement of job figures inspired an optimistic outlook for the US economy. But caution may prevail due to the slowdown in the first quarter.
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