US Economy Shrinks 0.2% on Weaker Spending, Larger Trade Impact

The US economy shrank at the start of the year, restrained by weaker consumer spending and an even bigger impact from trade than initially reported.

Gross domestic product decreased at a 0.2% annualized pace in the first quarter, the second estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed Thursday. That compared with an initially reported 0.3% decline.

The economy’s primary growth engine — consumer spending — advanced 1.2%, down from an initial estimate of 1.8% and the weakest pace in almost two years. Meantime, net exports subtracted nearly 5 percentage points from the GDP calculation, slightly more than the ...