FINANCIAL TIMES: The arrival of austerity in the US led to disappointing annualised growth of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 as output was hit by a drop in federal defence spending.
The figures suggest that across-the-board cuts in government spending – known as sequestration – are trapping the US economy in a pattern of steady but mediocre growth despite a pick-up in the housing market…
Analysts had forecast a growth rate of 3 per cent in the first quarter. The figures were expected to bounce after an artificially weak fourth quarter of 2012, when growth was only 0.4 per cent because of declining inventories and defence cuts… (more)
