The US economy grew slightly faster than initially thought in the first quarter, while the job market remained sluggish last week, according to US data released on Thursday. Gross domestic product, which measures total output of goods and services within U.S. borders, grew at a 1 percent annual pace in the first three months of 2008, matching economists' forecasts and a touch stronger than the 0.9 percent growth estimated by the Commerce Department last month. The figure was initially reported in April at an anemic 0.6 percent, fueling concerns that the US economy may be slipping into recession. However, those concerns have subsided as fresh data showed healthier growth, particularly in consumer spending and exports. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of national economic activity, rose at a 1.1 percent rate in the quarter, slightly ahead of the preliminary estimate of 1 percent last month. Despite that upward revision, consumer spending posted its smallest gain since the second quarter of 2001, which was during the last recession. Thursday's Commerce Department report showed that prices continued to rise in the first quarter. The price index for gross domestic purchases, a closely watched measure of inflation, rose at a 3.6 percent rate, up 0.1 percentage point from the preliminary estimate. Excluding food and energy, the price index was up 2.3 percent. The report also showed that exports, which have been among the few bright spots in the economy, rose 5.4 percent, which was much better than the estimate of 2.8 percent in May. Imports of goods and services fell 0.7 percent, a more modest decline than the 2.6 percent drop estimated last month. Separately, the Labor Department reported the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits was unchanged last week, although a separate gauge that irons out volatility rose to the highest since 2005.
