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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Government to review mystery of slow Q1 growth

The Columbian
Published:

WASHINGTON — There’s something strange about the U.S. economy in the first three months of a year: It frequently grows at a much slower pace than in the other nine months. The government agency charged with calculating the economy’s growth rate now says it will adjust its methods to try to resolve the problem.

At issue is how economists compensate for seasonal patterns. The changes could paint a much different picture of the economy’s recent performance.

Concerns flared when the government said in late April that the economy expanded just 0.2 percent at an annual rate in the first three months of the year. But many economists have challenged the government’s data, and some have argued the first quarter figure should be as high as 1.8 percent instead.

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