What's the real score on America's GDP?

Washington - Grrowth at weakest pace in 3 years, but numbers not a true picture of economy's health

The US economy grew at its weakest pace in three years in the first quarter as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less on inventories, in a potential setback to President Donald Trump's promise to boost growth.
Gross domestic product increased at a 0.7 per cent annual rate also as the government further cut defence spending, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its advance estimate.
That was the weakest performance since the first quarter of 2014.
The economy grew at a 2.1 per cent pace in the fourth quarter. The pedestrian first-quarter growth pace is, however, not a true picture of the economy's health. The labour market is near full employment, generating stronger wage growth, and consumer confidence is near multi-year highs. That suggests the mostly weather-induced sharp slowdown in consumer spending is probably temporary.
"We've created over 600,000 jobs already over a very short period of time and it's going to really start catching on now," Trump said.
"Weak, but GDP growth has tended to be below trend in first quarters in recent years, cautioning against extrapolating," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York. "We expect reacceleration in the second quarter."
Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, braked to a 0.3 per cent rate in the first quarter. That was the slowest pace since the fourth quarter of 2009 and followed the fourth quarter's robust 3.5 per cent growth rate.
There was some good news in the first quarter.
Business investment improved further, with spending on equipment jumping at a 9.1 per cent. Spending on mining exploration, wells and shafts surged at a record 449 per cent.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Trump's tax-cut plan would "pay for itself with growth" and closing of some deductions and credits.
"I would describe our economy as one that has been growing around two per cent per year," she said. "That's something we expect to continue over the next couple of years," Fed Chair Janet Yellen said.
A separate report on Friday from the Labour Department showed private wages and salaries accelerated 0.9 per cent in the first quarter, the largest increase in a 10 years.