The U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter of 2016 as real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 0.8 percent, according to the second estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Real GDP is adjusted for inflation and represents "the value of the production of goods and services in the economy," according to the bureau. The 0.8 percent growth for the first quarter of 2016 is a decline from the 1.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The second estimate of 0.8 percent growth was an increase from the previous advance estimate of 0.5 percent reported in April. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal predicted that GDP would have been revised up to 1.0 percent.
The first quarter real GDP of 0.8 percent, which includes performance from January, February, and March of 2016, was higher than the 0.2 percent growth seen in the first quarter of 2015.
According to the report, "the deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a larger decrease in nonresidential fixed investment, a deceleration in PCE, and a downturn in federal government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in state and local government spending, and an acceleration in residential fixed investment."
The bureau will release its third estimate for the first quarter of 2016 on June 28.