Second Read on Q1 GDP Contracts 1%: Worst Number In 3 Yrs

First-quarter U.S. economic output contracted 1 percent, constituting the worst performance in three years.

Blame for the disappointing news is mainly traced to lower inventory investment, according to a the Bureau of Economic of Economic Analysis, whose previous "first estimate" put growth for the period at 1 percent

The agency also blamed lower exports, state and local government spending and residential and nonresidential fixed investments.

But those economic drags were partly offset by higher consumer spending as well as more federal spending, according to the BEA.

Inflation slowed to 1.3 percent in the recent quarter, from 1.8 percent in the prior period. But consumers were also spending at a slower rate of 3.1 percent, down from 3.8 percent gain in the fourth period.

The rate of spending on durable goods skidded to 1.4 percent compared with growth of 2.8 percent in the period ended Dec. 31.