(Washington) - Predictions of a slowing U.S. economy turned out to be off the mark.
The Commerce Department reports that the first quarter GDP rose 3.2 percent, well above the two and a half percent growth economists had forecast.
The growth is even more surprising since the first quarter included more than three weeks of the longest government shutdown ever.
The biggest part of the economy, consumer spending, rose 1.2 percent. That's also slightly better than economists estimated.
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