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    April 27, 2012

US Economic Growth Slows

   VOA News
   Gas prices are displayed at a Shell station in Beaverton, Ore., April
   24, 2012. Photo: AP
   Gas prices are displayed at a Shell station in Beaverton, Ore., April
   24, 2012.

   U.S. economic growth slowed down in the first three months of this
   year, falling to an annual rate of 2.2 percent.
   Friday's report from the [1]Commerce Department says growth was cut
   seven-tenths of a percentage point as governments cut spending, and
   imports exceeded exports.
   These negatives outweighed consumer spending increases and some
   improvements in the battered housing sector.
   Economists say the first quarter's 2.2 percent growth is not fast
   enough to cut the U.S. unemployment rate, which stands at 8.2 percent.
   Worries about jobs and the economy are a key issue in this year's
   presidential campaign.

References

   1. http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm

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