WASHINGTON—U.S. economic growth accelerated in the first quarter setting the course for what is expected will be the strongest performance this year in nearly four decades.
Gross domestic product increased at a 6.4 percent annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its advance estimate of GDP for the first three months of the year. That was the second-fastest GDP growth pace since the third quarter of 2003 and followed a 4.3 percent rate in the fourth quarter.
