First-quarter GDP growth revised up to +1.0%

The economy grew at an upwardly revised 1.0% annual rate in the first three months of 2008, helped by stronger consumer spending and exports, a Commerce Department report showed.

The department had estimated a month ago that gross domestic product, or GDP, grew at a 0.9% rate. GDP measures the total output of goods and services within U.S. borders.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected GDP to advance at a 1.0% pace. The figure was initially reported in April at an anaemic 0.6%, fuelling concerns that the U.S. economy may be slipping into recession.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of national economic activity, rose by 1.1% in the quarter, a touch stronger than the 1.0% estimate given last month, helped by increases in medical care services. Despite the upward revision, consumer spending remained at the lowest level since the second quarter of 2001, which was during the last recession.