Economy still sputtering

The nation's economy continued its sluggish growth in the first quarter, according to a government report Wednesday that showed a slightly better-than-expected gain in economic activity.
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the economy, rose at an annual rate of 0.6% in the first three months of the year, when adjusted for inflation. That matched the rise achieved in the fourth quarter as well as in the year-earlier period.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 0.5% gain for the first quarter.
There has been a growing belief among many economists that the economy is in a recession, having fallen into it either late last year or during the course of the first quarter. Employers cut 232,000 jobs in the first three months of 2008 and consumers pulled back on spending in the face of higher prices.
The most common definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters in which GDP is negative, although the official designation of an economic downturn is based on broader measures as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The GDP reading was helped by a strong build in business inventories, following a deep cut in the fourth quarter. It was also helped by a smaller trade gap as a weaker dollar made U.S. exports more competitive elsewhere in the world. A pickup in government spending, particularly a 6% rise in defense spending by the federal government, also boosted GDP.