Economic Growth at 3.2% in First Quarter

(From the nytimes.com) The United States economy continued to expand in the first quarter, but economists cautioned that the pace of growth is still not nearly fast enough to recover ground lost during the recession. National output grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.2 percent last quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday, after growth of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2.2 percent in the third quarter.

The steady growth has quelled fears that the downturn is not quite over.

“It’s been a case of, when will they stop worrying and learn to love the boom?” said Robert Barbera, chief economist at ITG, who said that many economists have been too hesitant to acknowledge the steady recovery because the job market is still weak.

Consumers were a major contributor to the expansion last quarter. Consumer spending grew at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the first part of the year, after growing at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the previous three months.

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