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Consumer spending was actually stronger in March after adjusting for the drop in gas prices. Inflation-adjusted spending rose at a slightly faster 0.3 percent pace. That matched February's inflation-adjusted rate and was higher than January's. Steady hiring has helped consumers maintain spending, though job gains slowed in March. Employers added just 88,000 jobs last month, much lower than the average of 220,000 per month in the preceding four months. Economists forecast that the slowdown was temporary. They predict job gains in April rebounded to 160,000, although the unemployment rate is expected to stay at 7.6 percent. The Labor Department will issue the April employment report on Friday. On Friday, the Commerce Department said the economy expanded 2.5 percent at an annual rate in the January-March quarter. That was much better than the 0.4 percent growth recorded in the fourth quarter. Growth was buoyed by the large increase in consumer spending. In a healthy economy, with an unemployment rate between 5 percent and 6 percent, GDP growth of 2.5 percent or 3 percent would be considered solid. But the U.S. hasn't been able to maintain that pace since the recession ended nearly four years ago. And in today's still-struggling recovery, with unemployment at 7.6 percent, the economy needs faster growth to generate enough jobs to quickly shrink unemployment. Since the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, growth has remained weaker than usual after a severe downturn. The economy expanded just 2.4 percent in 2010, 1.8 percent in 2011 and 2.2 percent in 2012.
[Associated
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