Consumers shine despite slower-than-expected GDP

While growth slowed from the fourth quarter's rapid 5.6 percent pace and was a touch weaker than economists expected, the details of the report from the Commerce Department on Friday were fairly upbeat.
"We continue to see a nice bounce back in output. We believe the second quarter is likely to be equally robust," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast GDP, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, growing at a 3.4 percent rate in the first three months of 2010.
U.S. stock index futures trimmed gains after the data, while prices for government debt were flat. The U.S. dollar was little changed at lower levels versus the euro.
The report showed consumer spending accelerating at a 3.6 percent rate in the January-March period, more than double the 1.6 percent pace in the fourth quarter and the biggest rise since the first quarter of 2007.
By Chris Reese , Reuters