US economy shrank 2.9% in first quarter: Govt

Washington: The US economy shrank 2.9 percent in the first quarter, the sharpest contraction in five years, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The previous estimate was a 1.0 percent contraction for the first three months of the year, and analysts had expected a more modest 1.8 percent decline.

The Commerce Department said it downwardly revised its May gross domestic product number after newly available data showed weaker growth in consumer spending and a larger increase in exports.

The contraction in the world`s largest economy was the steepest since the 2009 first quarter, when the US was mired in deep recession following the 2008 financial crisis.