Investing.com - The U.S. economy contracted for the first time since 2011 in the first three months of the year, dampening optimism over the strength of the economy, official revised data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said gross domestic product contracted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1% in the first quarter, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.5%.
Preliminary data initially pegged U.S. growth at 0.1% in the first quarter. The U.S. economy expanded by 2.6% in the preceding quarter.
The data showed personal consumption grew 3.1% in the three months ended March 31, in line with expectations and up from an initial estimate of 3%. Consumer spending typically accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic growth.
The GDP price index rose by 1.3% in the first quarter, meeting forecasts and unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar added to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.22% to trade at 1.3622, compared to 1.3616 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow pointed to a gain of 0.15%, the S&P 500 indicated a rise of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 signaled a gain of 0.2%.