Total US economic output expanded 5.6% in the January-March quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two years, according to the latest government figures.
But the rise in gross domestic product disappointed economists, who had been tipping growth of 6%, and came in lower than the Commerce Department's first estimate of 5.8% growth. But it still remained the fastest annualised expansion since the second quarter of 2000.
The US economy grew 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2001. After-tax corporate profits edged up 0.9% in the first quarter - the first increase in one and a half years - after diving 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Pre-tax operating profits rose 3.7% in the first quarter, compared with a 9% drop in the fourth quarter.
The slight downward revision in first-quarter economic growth was partly caused by spending on durable goods, which plunged 9.6%, compared with the initial estimate of an 8% drop. Business investment also tumbled 8.2% in the first quarter, deeper than the initial estimate of a 5.7% decline.
Economic growth was powered largely by businesses reducing their reliance on stockpiles. Inventories - which had plunged $119.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2001 - fell $25.7 billion in the first quarter, even less than the first estimate of a drop of $36.2 billion.
