AFP,  WASHINGTON: The US economy grew much faster than originally reported in the first quarter due to sharp increases in business and consumer spending, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The revised data show GDP growth in President Donald Trump's first quarter was 1.2  per cent, half a  per centage point higher than the first report, which showed the US economy expanded at its slowest pace in three years.
While putting a far rosier finish on the January-March period, the result may cast doubt on the Trump administration's pledge to boost annual US growth to three per cent.
But the upward revision solidifies the expectation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in June, since it confirms the central bank's view that first-quarter weakness was only temporary -- evidence of which it said would be needed prior to increasing the benchmark lending rate for the second time this year.