Government lowers growth estimate for 1st quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew in the first quarter of the year, noting that consumers spent less than it previously thought.

The Commerce Department says that gross domestic product rose by 2.7 percent in the January-to-March period, less than the 3 percent estimate for the quarter that the government released last month. It was also much slower than the 5.6 percent pace in the previous quarter.

The department's report is the third of three estimates it makes for each quarter's GDP, the broadest measure of the nation's economic output. The first quarter's growth rate declined from earlier reports because consumers spent less than previously estimated, while the nation imported more goods from overseas.