US economy grew at 2.1% in first quarter

This is a developing story about the final reading of U.S. first-quarter GDP. Please check back for updates. The U.S. economy grew at a faster pace than expected in the first quarter, according to the Commerce Department's estimate. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday released its final reading of first-quarter GDP, which showed the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the three-month period including January, February and March. That figure was higher than the expectations of economists polled by LSEG, who had estimated 1.6% GDP growth in the first quarter. The figure was initially estimated at 2% before it was lowered to 1.6% in the BEA's first revision.